Henry Lawson (1867-1922) was an Australian poet and short-story writer. His many stories typify the nationalist period in Australian writing.

Henry Lawson was born near the gold-mining center of Grenfell, New South Wales, on June 17, 1867, the son of Peter Hertzberg Larsen; the family adopted the name Lawson when the birth was registered. In 1869 his parents took up a small farm.

Having suffered a severe loss of hearing as a lad, Henry Lawson grew up with little education beyond that gained from reading. Bret Harte's stories attracted his interest and influenced him considerably. At 14 he left school and began work. The homesteaders' endless struggle to earn a living from the impoverished land colored the youth's outlook, and his unhappiness was intensified by strained relationships at home. Finally the depredation of droughts in the early 1880s drove the disunited family to Sydney, where young Lawson worked as a house painter...