John Shaw Neilson

by John Shaw Neilson, Cliff Hanna (Editor)

355 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Born to uneducated Scottish immigrants, John Shaw Neilson's father was a self taught poet, and encouraged his son to do the same. As a young man, the self-educated Neilson had verses accepted by The Bulletin - one of the country's most popular magazines - but he was primarily forced to work as a labourer and fruit-picker to earn a living.

It wasn't until his late 40s and 50s that Neilson was able to have his poems published in four collections. By now his health and eyesight were failing, and he began to associate with Melbourne literary circles. The poetry community managed to find him work as a messenger and arrange a literary pension. In his final years, the unwell Neilson was supported by his fellow poets including James Devaney.

Underappreciated in his lifetime, Neilson's lyric poetry was noted after his death in 1942, with various editions being released. His poems were set to music, biographies were written, and a biographical play - "The Pathfinder" - was staged across the country. Neilson's name is now bestowed upon two Australian literary awards, and his collected poems were published in 2012.