She found employment at the Daily Mirror, but that paper similarly frustrated her ambitions.

In 1958 Lawson began to contribute to Tom Fitzgerald's fortnightly publication, Nation as film critic and writing on cinema generally.

[3] She was involved with the Sydney Film Festival from its beginning in 1954, joined the committee and co-curated the 1959 program with Robert Connell.

During her time there, she wrote The Archibald Paradox, published by Allen Lane.

She moved back to Sydney in 1986 and began to write full-time, contributing to journals in Australia and overseas.