Francis Kenna

William Francis Kenna (21 September 1865 – 23 June 1932), [cite web|url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/historical/records1860.asp?SubArea=register_K&SubNav=register_A|title=Records of members and office holders in 1860|publisher=Queensland Parliament|accessdate=2008-10-04] known as Francis Kenna, was an Australian poet, journalist, and Labor Member of the Legislative Assembly in Queensland. He edited the "Brisbane Worker".

He published Banjo, of the Overflow, a parody of Banjo Paterson’s "Clancy of the Overflow" in 1892, as part of the Bulletin Debate 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.

In 1907 he married Edith Elvira Stamp; they had a son Vernon.

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.

Reference

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