Peter Nicholson, writer of the Poetry and Culture column on the "3 Quarks Daily" weblog, writes about the Ern Malley affair in his latest piece. Ern Malley was a fictitious poet invented by James McAuley and Harold Stewart in the 1943 "to expose what the perpetrators thought of as Modernism's foolishness." Such is the nature of the Australian literary soul the "hoax poem becomes, even against its makers best intentions, a serious work of art." Ern Malley was also the inspiration behind Peter Carey's novel My Life as a Fake.
Ben Peek makes a guest appearance on the "Talking Squid" weblog, explaining that "once you accept that you're a shallow, egotistical maniac out only for yourself, you don't have to bother with making yourself a better person. You've accepted something bad. You've embraced it." If this piece leaves you wanting more from Ben, you can read excerpts from his autobiography, Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth, on the Wheatland Press website.
Kimbofo, from the "Reading Matters" weblog, cross-posted her piece about litbloggers and review copies on the "MetaxuCafe" weblog and found herself in a sea of comments - some of them personal, and therefore highly suspect. I think some of them completely missed the point.
Bonny Symons-Brown interviews Jack Durack, who is the Chair of Sydney PEN's Writers in Prison Committee, about the committee's work, their successes and the tasks ahead.
