July 23, 1943: The Death of Ern Malley
The unknown Australian poet Ern Malley was said to have died of Graves'
disease on this day, prompting his sister to send the poems she found
among his possessions to Max Harris, editor of the Angry Penguins
poetry journal, who then decided to dedicate a special issue to
Malley's strange poems. But upon publication, Harris discovered Malley
wasn't real. He was the satirical creation of two Australian poets
hostile to modern poetry. Ern Malley remains Australia's most famous
literary hoax.
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