Dawn and Dusk Club

The Dawn and Dusk Club was an Australian bohemian club of writer friends from the late 19th century who met for drinks and camaraderie. Writer Henry Lawson was a prominent member of the club.

History

The club was formed around 1898 in Sydney, Australia by poet Victor Daley. Foundation members of 'the Duskers', a small and exclusive group of friends were Daley, Fred J. Broomfield, James Philp, Herbert Low (journalist), William Bede Melville (a reporter for the Sydney newspaper, The Star), Bertram Stevens and Randolph Bedford.

The club met at Broomfield's home on the corner of Ice Road and Great Barcom Street, Darlinghurst, near St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney about September, 1898. Daley was elected 'Symposiarch' of the Duskers and the seven 'heptarchs' were Lawson, Stevens, Nelson Illingworth, Frank P. Mahony, George Augustine Taylor, Con Lindsay (journalist), and Philp, who drafted the rules. Artist Norman Lindsay was also a member. Truth magazine publisher John Norton called them "a band of boozy, bar-bumming bards".