Maxwell Henley Harris AO (13 April 1921 – 13 January 1995), generally known as Max Harris, was an Australian poet, critic, columnist, commentator, publisher, and bookseller.

Early life

Harris was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia, and raised in the city of

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

, where his father was based as a travelling salesman. His early poetry was published in the children's pages of '' The Sunday Mail''. He continued to write poetry through his secondary schooling after winning a scholarship to

St Peter's College, Adelaide St Peter's College (officially The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter, but commonly known as Saints) is an Private school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Primary school, primary and Secondary school ...

. By the time he began attending the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, he was already known as a poet and intellectual. In 1941, he edited two editions of the student newspaper '' On Dit''.

Angry Penguins

Harris's passion for poetry and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

were driving forces behind the creation in 1940 of a literary journal called '' Angry Penguins''. His co-founders were D. B. "Sam" Kerr, Paul G. Pfeiffer and Geoffrey Dutton. The first issue attracted the interest of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

lawyer and arts patron John Reed, who offered to collaborate on publishing further issues. Harris, already trying to establish a South Australian branch of the Contemporary Art Society, was lured to the Reeds' art enclave at

Heide Heide (; Holsatian: ''Heid'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Dithmarschen. Population: 22,000. The German word ''Heide'' means "heath". In the 15th century four adjoining villages decide ...

. By the second issue of ''Angry Penguins'', Harris had incorporated visual art into the journal. Sidney Nolan later joined the editorial team. Other artists associated with ''Angry Penguins'' include Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, James Gleeson,

Arthur Boyd Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (24 July 1920 – 24 April 1999) was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, ...

and

John Perceval John de Burgh Perceval AO (1 February 1923 – 15 October 2000) was a well-known Australian artist. Perceval was the last surviving member of a group known as the Angry Penguins who redefined Australian art in the 1940s. Other members includ ...

. Traditionalist poets were outraged by the success of ''Angry Penguins'' with its promotion of surrealism and publication of progressive writers such as

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet, novelist, critic, and lecturer. He was appointed the 18th United States Poet Laureate in 1966. His other accolades included the National Book Award for Poetry a ...

and the American poet Harry Roskolenko. The poet and critic A. D. Hope was among those virulently opposed to Harris and the modernists. Hope inspired two young poets serving in the army, Harold Stewart and

James McAuley James Phillip McAuley (12 October 1917 – 15 October 1976) was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic, and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism. He was involved in the Ern Malley poetry hoax. Life and career McAuley w ...

, to "get Maxy". Under the name of " Ern Malley", the pair crafted a series of poems in the modernist style and submitted them to Harris at ''Angry Penguins''. Harris thought the poems brilliant and published them with some fanfare in ''Angry Penguins''. The poems were controversial but well received. However, police in South Australia interpreted some lines in the poetry as lewd (one poem used the word "incestuous") and Harris was charged with obscenity. Reed and Harris, who were by this time also publishing books, employed a detective to discover more about the mystery poet. Word emerged that Ern Malley was a

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

. The obscenity trial attracted international press attention. Harris was found guilty and fined five pounds despite noted literary critics testifying for the defence. Harris never wavered in his belief in the quality of the Ern Malley poems, which continue to be published and studied.

Later life

Harris ran the Mary Martin Bookshop in Adelaide with his university friend Mary Maydwell Martin. They published a monthly newsletter with literary criticism, comment and book reviews. After Mary Martin moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Harris expanded the book chain across Australia and Hong Kong. The chain pioneered the

remaindered book Remaindered books or remainders are printed books that are no longer selling well, and whose remaining unsold copies are liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. While the publisher may take a net loss on the sales of these books, t ...

industry in Australia by offering quality titles at reasonable prices. Harris fought the stranglehold which overseas publishers had on the Australian book market, taking on major publishing houses to ensure accessibly-priced books for Australian readers. The Mary Martin chain was sold to Macmillan in the late 1970s.Samela Harris (2012)
A life of books – and Mary Martin's
''AdelaideNow'', 2 September 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2014. Harris founded and co-edited the ''

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are " ...

'' and another literary journal, ''Australian Letters'', which continued the practice of commissioning artists to illustrate poetry. He was also, together with Geoffrey Dutton and Brian Stonier, a founder of Sun Books. Harris published his poetry privately, although it was often included in classic Australian anthologies. He became a long-serving and controversial columnist for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', with many of his "Browsing" columns later published in book form. It was in this context that he was dubbed "Australia's Cultural Catalyst". He also wrote columns for Adelaide newspapers. Harris campaigned against censorship, and was an early voice in the Australian republican movement. Although he was not a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Harris championed the then little-known nun and teacher, Mary MacKillop, founder of the Josephite order, calling her "a saint for all Australians". He became a prominent lay spokesman for her canonisation. Josephite nuns visited Harris in later life when he was ill. His ashes lie in a park between the Mary MacKillop College and the Josephite Convent in Adelaide. A collection of his work was published posthumously by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

as ''The Angry Penguin.'' Harris was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

. The Alumni Association of Adelaide University awarded him the title of "Father of Modernism in the Australian Arts".

Personal life

Harris was the father of journalist and columnist Samela Harris. A documentary film about Harris's relationship with his wife and about Adelaide's cultural life in the 1940s, ''Von Loves Her Modernist'', was released by Rob George in 2022.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Vegetative Eye'', Reed & Harris, Melbourne (1943)

Poetry

* ''The Angry Penguin – Selected poems of Max Harris'', National Library of Australia, Canberra (1996) * ''A Window at Night'', ABR Publications, Adelaide (1967) * ''The Circus and Other Poems'', Australian Letters, Adelaide (1961) – illustrated by

* ''The Coorong and Other Poems'', Mary Martin Bookshop, Adelaide (1955) * ''Dramas From the Sky'', The Adelaide University Arts Association, Adelaide (1942) * ''The Gift of Blood: Poetry'', Jindyworobak Club, Adelaide (1940) * ''Poetic Gems'', Mary Martin Bookshop, Adelaide (1979)

Non-fiction

* ''The Australian Way with Words'', Heinemann, Melbourne (1989) * ''Kenneth Slessor'', Lansdowne Press, Melbourne (1963) * ''Laughter in the Air: Tales from the Qantas Era'' (1988) – with Colin Burgess * ''The Land that Waited'', Landsowne, Sydney (1971) – with Alison Forbes

Edited

* ''Australia's Censorship Crisis'', Sun Books, Melbourne (1970) – with Geoffrey Dutton * ''Australian Poetry'', Angus & Robertson, Sydney (1967) * ''Sir Henry, Bjelke, Don Baby and Friends'', Sun Books, Melbourne (1971) – with Geoffrey Dutton * ''The Vital Decade: Ten Years of Australian Art and Letters'', Sun Books, Melbourne (1968) – with Geoffrey Dutton

Collected writings

* ''The Angry Eye'', Pergamon Press, Sydney (1973) * ''The Best of Max Harris – 21 Years of Browsing'', Unwin Paperbacks, Sydney (1986) * ''Ockers : essays on the bad old new Australia'', Maximus Books, Adelaide (1974) * ''The Unknown Great Australian and Other Psychobiographical Portraits'', Sun Books, Melbourne (1983)

References

External links

"Ern Malley" official site – Max HarrisJacket Magazine #17 – The Hoax Issue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Max 1921 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets Australian booksellers Australian literary critics Australian magazine publishers (people) People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Writers from Adelaide 20th-century Australian male writers Modernist poets People from Mount Gambier, South Australia