Francis Kenna (21 September 1865 – 23 June 1932), was an Australian poet, journalist, and

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Member of the Legislative Assembly in Queensland. He edited the "Brisbane Worker". He published

Banjo, of the Overflow ''Banjo, of the Overflow'' is a poem by Australian poet Francis Kenna. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 27 August 1892 in reply to fellow poets Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and Edward Dyson. This poem formed part of the ...

, a parody of Banjo Paterson's ''Clancy of the Overflow'' in 1892, as part of the

Bulletin Debate The "''Bulletin'' Debate" was a well-publicised dispute in '' The Bulletin'' magazine between two of Australia's best known writers and poets, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. The debate took place via a series of poems about the merits of livi ...

about the true nature of life in the Australian bush. Like many of his poems (including those later published in ''Phases''), it was first published in the Sydney

Bulletin Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

. In 1907 he married Edith Elvira Stamp; they had two sons, Herbert and Vernon. Kenna died in 1932 and was buried in

Lutwyche Cemetery Lutwyche Cemetery is a cemetery located at Kedron, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It opened in 1878 and saw its first burial in the same year. It is located at the corner of Gympie and Kitchener Roads, approximately ten kilometres north of B ...

.Kenna Francis
– Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 1 February 2015.

Works

*Songs of a season (1895, Melville, Mullen & Slade; Melbourne) *Phases (1915, Thos S Laidler, NSW) *Poems (no year) *Queensland authors and artists' Xmas magazine (no year; Watson Ferguson, Brisbane) edited by Francis Kenna and issued by the Queensland Authors and Artists Association.

References

*Australian National Bibliographical Database (which has 8 entries for works by or about Kenna).

External links

* 1865 births 1932 deaths Australian poets Australian journalists Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Burials at Lutwyche Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland {{Australia-poet-stub