Henry Lawson

A Stranger on the Darling

The year was 1892. Henry Lawson - poet, short story writer, fervent Labor supporter - was finding it almost impossible to make a living in Sydney, and the few pounds he did earn were quickly spent in the nearby bars of Lower George Street. He was broke, alcoholic, "on the ropes".

'Henry Lawson: A Stranger on the Darling' begins when the editor of the 'Bulletin' sent Lawson 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 inspired some of Lawson's most memorable stories and poems, peppered with characters he had 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 words. They uncover, too, eight new poems attributed to Lawson, forgotten since that time.