kavanagh's first published work appeared in 1928 in the "dundalk democrat" and the "irish independent". kavanagh had encountered a copy of the "irish statesman", edited by george william russell, who published under the pen name ae and was a leader of the irish literary revival. russell at first rejected kavanagh's work but encouraged him to keep submitting, and he went on to publish verse by kavanagh in 1929 and 1930. this inspired the farmer to leave home and attempt to further his aspirations. in 1931, he walked 80 miles (abt. 129 kilometres) to meet russell in dublin, where kavanagh's brother was a teacher. russell gave kavanagh books, among them works by feodor dostoyevsky, victor hugo, walt whitman, ralph waldo emerson and robert browning, and became kavanagh's literary adviser. kavanagh joined dundalk library and the first book he borrowed was "the waste land" by t. s. eliot.