Silence over deafness of writers Lawson and Wright

Silence over deafness of writers Lawson and Wright

MOST Australians know Henry Lawson and Judith Wright as literary icons. Less well known is that both were deaf – a fact often overlooked in discussions of their work. Lawson began losing his hearing at age nine; Wright in her early twenties. Neither identified as culturally deaf, but both described deafness as integral to their lives and writing. Lawson said deafness was “in a great measure responsible for my writing”. Wright wrote it “reached i…