In 1943 two poets created a fictional writer named Ern Malley to mock modernist literature. Their deception fooled editor Max Harris and led to a celebrated issue of Angry Penguins before the truth emerged.
James McAuley and Harold Stewart invented Ern Malley over a single day in 1943. They fabricated a biography and 17 poems, then mailed the work to Max Harris at Angry Penguins under the name of a supposed sister. Harris accepted the poems as genuine and devoted the autumn 1944 issue to them, complete with an introduction and a cover painting by Sidney Nolan.
