Editing Henry Lawson (section)

== Poetry and prose writing ==
[[Image:Archibald.jpg|thumb|Lawson (right) with [[J. F. Archibald]], founder of ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'']]
Henry Lawson's first published poem was 'A Song of the Republic' which appeared in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'', 1 October 1887; his mother's republican friends were an influence. This was followed by 'The Wreck of the [[Derry Castle (barque)|Derry Castle]]' and then 'Golden Gully.' Prefixed to the former poem was an editorial note:
{{Cquote|''In publishing the subjoined verses we take pleasure in stating that the writer is a boy of 17 years, a young Australian, who has as yet had an imperfect education and is earning his living under some difficulties as a housepainter, a youth whose poetic genius here speaks eloquently for itself.''}} 
Lawson was 20 years old, not 17.<ref name=DAB/>

In 1890–1891 Lawson worked in [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]].<ref>{{Citation | author1=Falkiner, Suzanne | title=Wilderness | date=1992 | page=62 | publisher=Simon & Schuster | isbn=978-0-7318-0144-2 }}</ref> He then received an offer to write for the Brisbane ''Boomerang'' in 1891, but he lasted only around 7–8 months as the ''Boomerang'' was soon in trouble. While in Brisbane he contributed to [[William Lane]]'s [[The Worker (Brisbane)|Worker]]; he later angled for an editorial position with the similarly named ''[[The Worker (Wagga)|Worker]]'' of Sydney, but was unsuccessful.<ref name=DAB/> He returned to Sydney and continued to write for the ''Bulletin'' which, in 1892, paid for an inland trip where he experienced the harsh realities of drought-affected New South Wales.<ref name="Elder 113">{{Citation | author1=Elder, Bruce | title=In Lawson's tracks [The Henry Lawson Trail from Bourke (NSW) to Hungerford (Qld). Paper in: Re-imagining Australia. Schultz, Julianne (ed.).] | journal=Griffith Review | date=2008 | issue=19 | pages=113 | isbn=978-0-7333-2281-5 | issn=1448-2924 }}</ref> He also worked as a [[roustabout]] in the woolshed at [[Toorale Station]].<ref name=ABC>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/perspective/toorale/3166428|title=Toorale|date=1 December 2008|access-date=18 June 2014|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref> This resulted in his contributions to the [[Bulletin Debate]] and became a source for many of his stories in subsequent years.<ref name="ADB"/> [[Bruce Elder (journalist)|Elder]] writes of the trek Lawson took between [[Hungerford, New South Wales|Hungerford]] and [[Bourke, New South Wales|Bourke]] as "the most important trek in Australian literary history" and says that "it confirmed all his prejudices about the Australian bush. Lawson had no romantic illusions about a 'rural [[idyll]]'."<ref>{{Citation | author1=Elder, Bruce | title=In Lawson's tracks [The Henry Lawson Trail from Bourke (NSW) to Hungerford (Qld). Paper in: Re-imagining Australia. Schultz, Julianne (ed.).] | journal=Griffith Review | date=2008 | issue=19 | pages=95 | isbn=978-0-7333-2281-5 | issn=1448-2924 }}</ref> As Elder continues, his grim view of the outback was far removed from "the romantic idyll of brave horsemen and beautiful scenery depicted in the poetry of [[Banjo Paterson]]".<ref>{{Citation | author1=Elder, Bruce | title=In Lawson's tracks [The Henry Lawson Trail from Bourke (NSW) to Hungerford (Qld). Paper in: Re-imagining Australia. Schultz, Julianne (ed.).] | journal=Griffith Review | date=2008 | issue=19 | pages=96 | isbn=978-0-7333-2281-5 | issn=1448-2924 }}</ref>

Lawson's most successful prose collection is ''While the Billy Boils'', published in 1896.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Falkiner, Suzanne | title=Wilderness | date=1992 | page=63 | publisher=Simon & Schuster | isbn=978-0-7318-0144-2 }}</ref> In it he "continued his assault on Paterson and the romantics, and in the process, virtually reinvented Australian realism".<ref name="Elder 113"/> Elder writes that "he used short, sharp sentences, with language as raw as [[Ernest Hemingway]] or [[Raymond Carver]]. With sparse adjectives and honed-to-the-bone description, Lawson created a style and defined Australians: dryly laconic, passionately egalitarian and deeply humane."<ref name="Elder 113"/> Most of his work focuses on the [[Australian outback|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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} [[The Drover's Wife (short story)|"The Drover's Wife"]] with its "heart-breaking depiction of bleakness and loneliness" is regarded as one of his finest short stories.<ref name = "BE113">Elder (2008) p. 113</ref> It is regularly studied in schools and has often been adapted for film and theatre.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wells|first=Rachel|title=Keeping bush ballads alive and well|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Arts/Keeping-bush-ballads/2005/05/16/1116095902715.html|work=The Age|date=17 May 2005|access-date=11 December 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Henry Lawson and Children (RAHS Collection) (13981404964).jpg|thumb|Henry Lawson and children (1905), [[Royal Australian Historical Society]]/Osborne Collection]]
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."<ref>{{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Henry|title=A fantasy of man: Henry Lawson complete works, 1901-1922|year=1984|publisher=Lansdowne|isbn=0701818751|pages=987|editor=Leonard Cronin|chapter=Three or Four Archibalds and the Writer}}</ref> Lawson's [[Jack Mitchell (Fictional Character)|Jack Mitchell]] story ''[[On the Edge of a Plain]]'' is often cited as one of the most accomplished examples of the sketch.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Henry|title=The Penguin Henry Lawson short stories|year=1986|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0140092153|pages=[https://archive.org/details/penguinhenrylaws00laws/page/11 11–12]|editor=Introduction by John Barnes|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/penguinhenrylaws00laws/page/11}}</ref>

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.