
Decorated bush poet Henry Lawson will return to Leeton for several interactive and informative sessions at the Henry Lawson Cottage as part of the upcoming Australian Art Deco Festival.
The cottage will open for six 30 minute sessions between July 8 and 10, allowing visitors to explore the house where Lawson spent months sobering up and writing.
Performer Geoffrey Graham said he was looking forward to resuming his portrayal of the famed bush poet after his appearance at the previous Art Deco Festival in 2019.
Graham said his connection with Lawson goes back to his ancestors who lived in the small town of Grenfell where Lawson was also born.
Graham said he was inspired by his father who introduced him to bush poetry and which resulted in Graham eventually performing as Banjo Patterson before taking on the role of the influential but afflicted Lawson.
"Lawson had that ability to be so descriptive and to take you on a visual journey through words," Mr Graham said.
"A politician will say a lot of words but bugger all at the same time, whereas a poet like Lawson did the opposite."
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Mr Graham said portraying Lawson had allowed him to further understand and empathise with the poet's life which was greatly affected by depression, alcoholism and partial deafness.
"When I first started to do Henry I would stagger my speech like I'd been drinking, but I wouldn't do that now," he said.
It was this reliance on alcohol which prompted Lawson's friends to send him away from the city to Leeton.
Along with his housekeeper Isabel Byers, Lawson moved into the small workers college on Daalbata Road in 1916.
While it was a short stay, Lawson would write 30 poems and 10 short stories from the cottage including 'Leeton Town' and 'A Letter from Leeton'.
Mr Graham said he wanted festival goers to leave the cottage having learnt more about the poet.
"People will feel like they've actually met Henry Lawson," he said. "They'll also have a greater understanding of his passion and his talents."
'Henry Lawson at Home' will run for multiple 30 minute sessions between July 8 and 10 at the Henry Lawson Cottage. Tickets are available from the official Australian Art Deco Leeton website.
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