Will Dyson was a cartoonist, artist, poet and social critic during the early part of the last century. He was born near Ballarat, moved to Melbourne, was friends with Norman Lindsay and the bohemian set of Edwardian Melbourne and later worked for the Bulletin. He also was also one of Australia’s first great war artists, and his works now hang in the Australian War Memorial. They are distinctive for showing their subjects in an unheroic but sympathetic way. When working in London before the First World War, he revolutionised political cartooning and caricaturing. G.K. Chesterton called him a genius, and he attracted similar high praise from H.G. Wells. However Will Dyson represents many of the contradictions of Australia’s most famous people: feted overseas and ignored at home. He spent large amounts of time in England and the United States and was eventually buried in London yet he was a fervent Australian nationalist. Ross McMullin, who has previously written on Australian Labor Party history, has recently revised his earlier biography of Dyson and will talk about him at Sam Merrifield Library on Thursday November 9 at 7 pm. There is a $5 booking fee. Phone 8325 1950 to reserve a seat. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear about this internationally renowned Australian figure.
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