Francis Webb (1925-1973) grew up in North Sydney and then at Johnson Street, Chatswood. He attended St Pius X College and CBHS Lewisham as a young man, and student representatives from these schools will be among those reciting Webb's powerful poetry. After he was first published in 1942 in the Bulletin, Webb soon rose to become one of the most prodigious talents of the postwar generation, courageously tackling taboo topics such as racial injustice and mental illness (he is the first Australian poet to address the latter).
After Webb's death in 1973, his family donated his personal book and art collection to the library, and this will also be on display. Webb would have turned 100 this year, and this reading marks his Centenary in the very area where he first became a poet.
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