The Outward journey

Abstract

Owen Webster described The Outward Journey, the first part of his unfinished biography of Frank Dalby Davison, as a 'non-fiction novel'. In writing it he combined the talents of a creative biographer with those of a social historian and literary critic. The Outward Journey is the story of a writer's development, beginning with a vivid evocation of the personalities surrounding Davison in his childhood and going on to trace the early experiences which were to influence his major works. This story is complemented by the author's comprehensive analysis of Davison's earliest works and by some rare insights into the lives of working class Australians from the migrations of the gold rush era to the years immediately after the first world war. Show more