John Barnes (1931) is Emeritus Professor of English at La Trobe University, where he taught for 25 years specializing in Australian literature. In addition to his recent book La Trobe; Traveller Writer Governor (2017), 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).

Other books 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 of Meridian: The La Trobe University English Review, and editor of the La Trobe Journal.

His current project is a book of literary reminiscences, Partial Portraits.