One of the great observers of Australian life, Henry Lawson looms large in our national psyche. Yet at his best Lawson transcends the very bush, the very outback, the very up-country, the very pub or selector's hut he conveys with such brevity and acuity: he make specific places universal. Henry Lawson is too often regarded as a legend rather than a writer to be enjoyed. In this selection Lawson is revealed as an author whose delightful, humorous, wry and moving short stories continue to delight generations of readers. This is the essential Lawson collection – the classic of Australian classics. 'Lawson's sketches are beyond praise.' Joseph Conrad 'Lawson gets more feelings, observation and atmosphere into a page than does Hemingway.' Edward Garnett
Fifty-two of Henry Lawson's stories and sketches that he had first published in newspapers and magazines from 1888 onwards were gathered in his collection While the Billy Boils (Angus & Robertson, 1896). Lawson was not responsible for their ordering and he had to give ground on their texts, especially on his idiosyncratic presentation of wordings that helped to breathe life into his characters and situations. The present edition dismantles the fait accompli of 1896 by presenting the individual items in the chronological order of their first publication and with their original newspaper texts. This will allow a new appreciation of Lawson's writing, one that is attentive to his developing powers. The edition also facilitates a close study of Lawson's collaboration with the producers of the collection in 1896, in particular with his copy-editor Arthur W. Jose and publisher George Robertson. Facsimile images (available online) of the printer's copy that they prepared for While the Billy Boils supplement the edition's listing of the alterations that each of them made, revealing the textual history of each story or sketch.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. He is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. He attended school at Eurunderee from 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time that left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. He later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee, New South Wales. He was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as Robbery Under Arms and For the Term of His Natural Life. Lawson's first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1887. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush. Lawson was a firm believer in the merits of the sketch story, commonly known simply as 'the sketch, ' claiming that "the sketch story is best of all." Like the majority of Australians, Lawson lived in a city, but had had plenty of experience in outback life, in fact, many of his stories reflected his experiences in real life. In Sydney in 1898 he was a prominent member of the Dawn and Dusk Club, a bohemian club of writer friends who met for drinks and conversation.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. He is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. He attended school at Eurunderee from 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time that left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. He later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee, New South Wales. He was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as Robbery Under Arms and For the Term of His Natural Life. Lawson's first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1887. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. He is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. He attended school at Eurunderee from 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time that left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. He later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee, New South Wales. He was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as Robbery Under Arms and For the Term of His Natural Life. Lawson's first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1887. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. He is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. He attended school at Eurunderee from 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time that left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. He later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee, New South Wales. He was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as Robbery Under Arms and For the Term of His Natural Life. Lawson's first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1887. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian writer and poet. He is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period. Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. He attended school at Eurunderee from 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time that left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. He later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee, New South Wales. He was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as Robbery Under Arms and For the Term of His Natural Life. Lawson's first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1887. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully. Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
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