John Barnes was born in 1931, and grew up in Yallourn, La Trobe Valley, Victoria. In 1949 he moved to the city to study English and Political Science at the University of Melbourne where he met Lee Kok Liang, a lifelong friend who informed his political understanding. After completing his studies, he joined the public service, working in the Navy Office at Albert Park Barracks and later as a tutor at the University of Melbourne. Barnes was among the first scholars to approach Australian literature as a topic of serious study. In the early 1950s he was particularly interested in colonial writer Joseph Furphy (1843-1912) and sought out others who had known him, particularly Kate Baker and Miles Franklin. This research contributed to numerous publications including a Master of Arts thesis about Joseph Furphy’s Such is life, published in 1960, and a biography titled The Order of Things: A Life of Joseph Furphy, published in 1990. Barnes moved to Perth to teach English at the University of Western Australia. He spent two years at Cambridge in 1960, before returning to Perth where he met Josephine Dunphy. They were married in 1965 and were both active members of Western Australia’s literary circles, where they met Peter Cowan, Dorothy Hewett, Merv Lilley, and Elizabeth and Leonard Jolley. In 1970 they moved to Melbourne, where Barnes introduced the first courses in Australian literature at La Trobe University. During his time at La Trobe University, Barnes advocated for the teaching of Australian literature internationally, building relationships with academics from China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom. During the late 1980s, Barnes oversaw the formation of a relationship with East China Normal University, Shanghai, which facilitated scholarships for students from China to study at La Trobe, including Ouyang Yu. During his time at La Trobe, Aboriginal First Nations authors were introduced into the curriculum including the work of Bundjalung author Ruby Langford Ginibi. He retired in 1997 and was granted the title Emeritus Professor in 2004. Throughout his life he published prolifically, including writing articles and books on Joseph Furphy, Henry Lawson, H.H. Champion, Governor La Trobe, and editing anthologies of Australian writing, and collections of letters. He contributed to literary magazines including Meanjin, Overland and Westerly, and served as editor for Meridian, and the La Trobe Journal. He passed away on 6 January 2023.