About the artist
Andrew Barton «Banjo» Paterson (1864–1941) was an Australian poet, journalist and author, one of the most celebrated voices of the bush ballad tradition. Born to immigrant parents in New South Wales, he grew up around drovers, shearers and bushrangers, experiences that shaped the vivid rural imagery running through his verse. He trained and worked as a solicitor before his writing career took hold, publishing under the pen name «The Banjo», borrowed from a family racehorse.
His 1895 collection The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses was an immediate success and remains one of the best-selling volumes of Australian poetry. Alongside the title poem, works such as «Clancy of the Overflow» and «Waltzing Matilda» — the latter now regarded as Australia's unofficial national anthem — cemented his reputation as the poetic chronicler of outback life, horsemanship and the pastoral frontier.
Paterson later worked as a war correspondent covering the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion, and continued journalism in Sydney and London. His plain-spoken, rhythmic verse, rooted in oral balladry, gave enduring voice to Australian rural identity and continues to be read, sung and adapted long after his death.