The Writer and

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 438, 14 November 1947, Page 21

The Writer and

Society HE story of Henry Lawson’s life would have been different had he been adequately. paid for his work, his widow stated recently in a letter to a gathering at the Sydney Domain, The occasion was a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the great Australian writer’s death, but Mrs. Lawson, who is 71, was too ill to attend. In her letter, she said that because of lack of recognition, her husband had been forced to sell his works at starvation rates in order to buy food. She declared that even the present Commonwealth Literary Fund (which aids Australian writers) was not sufficient, and suggested that a government publishing house should be established to encour‘age poets and writers. Later, when intervieweg at her home, Mrs. Lawson said that she had seen many fine Australian manuscripts refused by publishers interested mainly in commercial value. She felt that it was a national affait to encourage poets and writers who wrote about their country because they loved and understood it. The president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Les. Haylen, M.H.LR., who delivered the memorial oration, said that present-day Australian poets and writers often suffered from the same disability as did Lawson,