It was 1892. Henry Lawson ~ poet, short-story writer and fervent Labor supporter ~ was broke, an alcoholic and “on the ropes”. The editor of the Bulletin newspaper, J. F. Archibald, sent Lawson to the bush to “save himself”. Lawson’s time in the outback gave him a new understanding of the Australian landscape and people, and he began to write about outback life from the heart. His sojourn in Bourke and surrounds inspired some of Lawson’s most memorable stories and poems, peppered with characters he met “on the track”.
Here, father and daughter team, Robyn Burrows and Alan Barton, themselves from the Bourke region, reveal the true stories behind these works. They uncover, too, eight “new” poems written by Lawson during his time in Bourke.
Originally published by Harper Collins Australia 1996, reprinted 1997, self-published 2009.
Contact Robyn to purchase Henry Lawson: A Stranger on the Darling.