Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson was born in Australia in 1867, the son of a Norwegian immigrant to the country and a mother who encouraged her son to love books. When he was fourteen, he had an accident that made him deaf. This meant he could not study at school and did not pass the exams to get him into university. His education came from reading Charles Dickens and other writers. Lawson’s mother published his early poems and short stories in her own magazine. He married but was often depressed and the marriage did not last long. He also never had any money and went to prison for not paying to support his children after his divorce. Although Lawson could not keep a job and needed constant care, he wrote wonderful realistic stories and poems about life outside the cities in Australia. He died in 1922. Many people now consider him the greatest writer in Australian history.