The Bulletin Debate

The "Bulletin Debate" was a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892-93 between two of Australia's most iconic writers and poets: Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson.

At the time, The Bulletin was a popular and influential publication, and often supported the typical national self-image held by many Australians, sometimes termed the "bush legend." Many Australian writers and poets, such as "Banjo" Paterson, were based primarily in the city, and had a tendency to romanticise bush life.

On 9 July 1892, Lawson published a poem in The Bulletin entitled "Up The Country". In this poem (beginning with the verse "I am back from up the country—very sorry that I went,—"), Lawson attacked the typical "romanticised" view of bush life.

On 23 July 1892, Paterson published his reply to Lawson's poem, titled "In Defense of the Bush". Whilst Lawson had accused writers such as Paterson of being "City Bushmen", Paterson countered by claiming that Lawson's view of the bushlife was full of doom and gloom. He appropriately finished his poem with the line "For the bush will never suit you, and you'll never suit the bush." Other Australian writers, such as Edward Dyson, also later contributed to the debate.

In 1939, Banjo Paterson recalled his thoughts about the Bulletin debate:

Henry Lawson was a man of remarkable insight in some things and of extraordinary simplicity in others. We were both looking for the same reef, if you get what I mean; but I had done my prospecting on horseback with my meals cooked for me, while Lawson has done his prospecting on foot and had had to cook for himself. Nobody realized this better than Lawson; and one day he suggested that we should write against each other, he putting the bush from his point of view, and I putting it from mine.

"We ought to do pretty well out of it," he said. "We ought to be able to get in three or four sets of verses before they stop us."

The Bulletin Debate was followed closely by widespread readers of the publication, reinforcing the Bush as a significant part of Australia's national identity.

There was never any clear "winner" to this debate. However, Paterson presented Australia with the desired image of its national identity, and his short story collections received spectacular sales. In 1993, Paterson replaced Lawson as the poet depicted on the Australian ten-dollar note.

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Wikipedia