A writer with an ear for the rhythms of Australian speech, Melbourne-based Alan Marshall published in the dominant social realist tradition of the 1940s and '50s. The author of short stories, journalism, children's books, novels and advice columns, he is best remembered for the first book of his autobiography, "I Can Jump Puddles" (1955). His work is marked by a deep interest in rural and working-class life, with an emphasis on shared experience.