In this episode we are joined from Norway by a special guest, Kari Mentyjӕrvi. Kari is a Norwegian Lawson scholar who lives near the Tromøy home in which Lawson’s father and paternal grandparents lived. Kari shares with us details about Lawson’s father, Niels Hertzberg Larsen (Peter Lawson), and grandfather, Peder Larsen. She also tells us about the island of Tromøy and the Norwegian Arendal region in which Lawson’s ancestors lived.

Lawson works referred to in the episode:

A Child in the Dark—A Bush Sketch. Originally published in The Bulletin 13 December 1902. Collected in Triangles of Life and Other Stories (October 1913).

The Wander-Light. Originally published in The Bulletin 10 December 1903. Collected in When I Was King and Other Verses (November 1905).

Said Grenfell to my Spirit. Originally written 1911, but not published until after Lawson’s death. Collected in Colin Roderick (ed.) Henry Lawson: Collected Verse, Vol. 3: 1910-1922 (1969).

Kari Mentyjӕrvi’s favourite Lawson works:

Poetry:

Faces in the Street. Originally published in The Bulletin 28 July 1888. Collected in In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses (February 1896).

Second Class ‘Wait Here.’ Originally published in The Elector 1896. Collected in Verses Popular and Humorous (December 1900).

The Heart of the Swag. Originally published in Amateur Gardener 1 February 1906. Collected in The Skyline Riders and Other Verses (October 1910).

Prose:

The Drover’s Wife. Originally published in The Bulletin 23 July 1892. Collected in Short Stories in Prose and Verse (December 1894).

A Christmas in the Far West: or the Bush Undertaker. Originally published in Antipodean December 1892. Collected in Short Stories in Prose and Verse(December 1894).