ABOUT CIAN-CRISTIANA

Cian Dennan is a full-time creative based in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. When not teaching on staff at the University of Auckland, Cian works under the artist pseudonym, Of Crafts and Curios, creating social media content and selling her visual art and small press zines to a combined audience of over 10,000 followers.

Growing up Italian informs Cian’s thematic interests of mysticism, feminism and the experience of girlhood. Cian holds a Bachelor of Arts (2018) and an Honours degree with first-class distinction (2020) from the University of Auckland.

Cian’s academic and creative work has been published in a number of journals, including The Women’s Studies Journal of New Zealand and Badapple.

In 2024, Cian returned to the University of Auckland to pursue a Master’s in Creative Writing, with a focus on Poetry. Cian was recognised with a number of awards for the merit and success of her poetry thesis.

Awards & Recognitions

  • Cian Dennan was the inagural first place recepeient of the Garth Maxwell Creative Project Prize for her Masters thesis - an award to recognize outstanding creative practice.

  • Cian Dennan was awarded the first-place scholarship prize for her contribution to poetry at the University of Auckland.

  • Cian Dennan received the Copyright Licensing New Zealand scholarship for 2024. Awarded to an individual student in the Master’s of Creative Writing programme based on the merit of their application portfolio.