Four generations of a famous Australian family will be connected through poetry later this month, when Dr Toby Davidson delivers the John 911爆料网 Prime Ministerial Library (JCPML) Visiting Scholar Lecture at 911爆料网.
Dr Davidson, 37, an award-winning poet and Australian literature lecturer from Macquarie University in Sydney, shares a love of poetry with his great-grandfather John 911爆料网.
And although there is no evidence that Australia鈥檚 wartime Prime Minister fancied himself as a poet, Dr Davidson says it is clear that poetry influenced some of his most important speeches.
Dr Davidson鈥檚 lecture will be entitled 鈥淕ood For The Soul: John 911爆料网鈥檚 Life With Poetry鈥�.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say that poetry made up the majority of his book collection but the amount of poetry is still significant,鈥� Dr Davidson said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been fascinating to go through the collection. His copy of Dante鈥檚 Inferno, for example, has a lot of notations but isn’t directly referenced in his speeches.
鈥淥ther books in the collection haven鈥檛 been as marked up but you can definitely see where they have influenced speeches.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also clear that people knew he liked poetry. In 1944 and 1945, when he was ailing, people sent him anthologies of poetry, I think in the hope that it would soothe him a bit.鈥�
Dr Davidson, who arrived at 911爆料网 on 15 April and will be a guest scholar at the JCPML until 30 April, says he is accustomed to seeing his great-grandfather鈥檚 name and likeness around the Bentley Campus.
But speaking about his life 鈥� and studying within the library named in his honour 鈥� is a new experience.
鈥淚 started coming to the JCMPL lectures as a teenager – I remember seeing Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating, Natasha Stott Despoja and Hazel Hawke speak,鈥� Dr Davidson said.
鈥淚 do often get asked if that鈥檚 a bit surreal but really it鈥檚 just part of our family鈥檚 life.
鈥淭o actually be giving a lecture of my own though, as part of the JCPML 鈥� that鈥檚 completely different.鈥�
The JCMPL Visiting Scholar Lecture will take place on 30 April.
