John Barnes is an Emeritus Professor of English at La Trobe University, where he taught for 25 years, specializing in Australian literature.
He has previously written two biographies: The Order of Things: A Life of Joseph Furphy (1990) and Socialist Champion: Portrait of the Gentleman as Crusader (2006).
His current project is a book of literary reminiscences, Partial Portraits.
His books also include: Joseph Furphy (1963); The Writer in Australia: A collection of Literary Documents 1856-1964 (1969); Henry Kingsley and Colonial Fiction (1971); the Penguin Henry Lawson: Short Stories (in print since 1986); and (with Andrew Furphy) FURPHY: The Water Cart and the Word (2005).
He was founding editor (1982-96) of Meridian: The La Trobe English Review, and editor of The La Trobe Journal (1998-2007).