The Darkening Ecliptic

In 1944, the Australian literary world was rocked by a hoax that became a worldwide scandal. Ern Malley, a deceased motor mechanic and poet, and his sister Ethel, were the invention of two Sydney poets, James McAuley and Harold Stewart, who were intent on proving that modern poetry was a sham. The work of the Malleys comprised lines and words selected randomly, from Shakespeare to an American report on the drainage of the breeding grounds of mosquitos.

Max Harris published the poetry …