Ern Malley, the original dromedary of Australian poetry, has been anthologised, criticised and mythologised beyond belief. It's perhaps sobering to reflect that while Ern Malley's creators, his twin Gepettos James McAuley and Harold Stewart along with his original sponsor Max Harris have passed from this world, Ern's legend lives on. What is it about Ern Malley that refuses to die?
The answer to this burning question and several others continues to elude us but the good news is that we are proud to announce the arrival of our biggest issue yet – Cordite #23: Children of Malley! Featuring forty five poems by a range of Australian and international poets writing under strange (and sometimes hilarious) noms de malley, this issue is one we're extra proud of and we hope you'll enjoy it too.
As mentioned, the contributors to this issue remain, for the moment, anonymous. That's where you come in. We'd like to know who you think each child o' Malley is – and we invite you to leave a comment or two speculating upon their true identities. Each time the correct identity of a child is guessed, we'll confirm and acknowledge via some suitably scandalous public admission, or perhaps even an apology.
So, put your thinking caps on, and we look forward to your nominations for the real names of these sometimes crazy/ sometimes sweet, long-lost Children of Malley.
I think Ernmalleyite is PiO. I think this because there is the characteristic 'th' without the 'e'.
I also think Ouyang Malley is Ouyang Yu.
I'm convinced that Eve N. Malley is actually Phillip Ruddock, and I have a wealth of evidence to back up my view:
ï Ruddock is widely known as a closet-poet
ï He's obsessed with wordplay and the pure joy of the spoken and written word.
ï “Tossed Grubs” is just typical of his zany surrealism and crazy-assed sense of humour!
In conclusion;
Yep, my money's on the madcap A/G.
Bronwyn,
You're right about Ouyang Malley – congratulations! Though I guess that one wasn't too hard!
PiO, however, is not Ernmalleyite.
And I'm afraid to say, rob, that much as we would have liked to publish something sentimental by Mr Ruddock, he is not the author of ìTossed Grubsî.
Bring those guesses on, people …
DAMN…
i was SO confident…
Fleur, is that you Michael Farrell?
and
No way – e's or no e's piO's is a different gig -
Ernamalleyite (rev B U Malley) is actually less Murray finally finding form.
I think that Boult Upright Malley is none other than Patrick Jones.
JR
ernmalleyrite is twins eric and homer
JR, you are correct! Ernmalleyite is indeed Patrick Jones.
All of the other guesses were wrong, I'm afraid.
Two down, who knows how many to go!
Going out on a sizeable limb here, with little to go on other than the coincidence of names — is Fleur de Malley possibly Fleur Adcock?
J R is either tie designer Gino Spaghetti or Judith Rodriguez!
I think Warne Malley is Nick Whittock.
In response to 'how many more to go':
I don't know whether it's giving it away, but could each named 'Child of Malley' have not written all the poems under their name if they wrote more than one?
so tricky – i can only hazard generalities. like i bet everyone stuck to their own gender…
horsehead-jennifer compton
the only thing that worries me is would she keep the same gender -everything else is a lie except for horses.
ern m jr unmasked and he is found to be john kinsella who is found to be…
'ern malley: new poems' are by doctor kenneth bolton esq. and, if not, then they can only be by alan pull-the-other-one wearne
One often wonders with anonymous prize judging or magazine submission how often they can pick out individual writers. I guess this is a kind of test which we've all failed!
I withdraw the Phillip Ruddock nomination.
Ethel Malley is Les Murray.
No doubts.
Loolila – you are correct! Ern Malley Jr is indeed John Kinsella.
And PB – you are almost right – three of the Ern Malley poems are by Ken Bolton. Two more are by Ken Bolton and another collaborator.
All other guesses are, so far, off the mark.
We'll be making an “official” statement soon as to the identities already disclosed. Keep those guesses coming people!!
Bronwyn – you are correct – Nick Whittock is indeed Warne Malley.
O'Hara O'Malley is Ken Bolton, I think. (It was the reference to Schulyer)
Deb
Could Rob Walker be leading us astray with with Eve N. Malley?
Could Eve N. Malley be Rob Walker?
Deb – wrong on both counts, I'm afraid!
Boult Upright Malley may well
be Patrick Jones, but just who
the bloody jimmy is Patrick Jones…….
Here is Eve's bio to give us a clue – I started life as a Jew, but I gave that up fairly quickly. At university I became a feminist, but I gave that up too. Now, I'm a nobody. The best thing about being a nobody is that you can't give it up. I am very happy now, the serpent can go to hell.