Centenary of Francis Webb with Dr Toby Davidson
Francis Webb was a Sydney poet, born in 1925 in Adelaide, spending the majority of his life bouncing between cities around the world. He was one of the first Australian poets to write about struggles with mental health.
During the 20th century, talking about having depression or even anxiety would have probably led to a diagnosis of melancholia or maybe perhaps mania, leading to many being institutionalised.
That’s where Webb came in. Being open and discussing themes of depression and mental health in his works made him way ahead of his time. Webb was diagnosed with schizophrenia and lived through this mental battle. His life was cut short when he passed away in 1973, but his stories and words live on.
Dr Toby Davidson is an Australian poetry scholar from Macquarie University, creator, facilitator and editor of Webb’s Collected poems, Dr Davidson is the leading Francis Webb scholar in Australian literary studies today.
Produced by: Carlos Tse
Image Courtesy: UWA Press
