Dark Night: Walking with McCahon Martin Edmond (Auckland University Press, 2011)
Dark Night is a profound work of creative non-fiction. Edmond retraces – quite literally – the steps of the New Zealand painter, Colin McCahon, following the route he took as he had a breakdown and went missing in Sydney for a day and a night. It has elements of a biography of the late artist and criticism of his work; an autobiography of Edmonds; a narrative of Edmond’s observations of the streets and haunts of Sydney; and reflections on religion, art, history, and the authentic life. It is not a biographical quest in the archival sense I’m used to using the term; but it is a biographical quest of a different kind. The life of McCahon becomes a lens for Edmond to examine the world. He writes well, observing acutely while never over-writing, and with genuine insight into the questions of existence.
Nathan Hobby, a biographer in Perth 
I’ve just got a book that might interest you too: It’s called Behind the Text, Candid conversations with Australian creative nonfiction writers, and it’s by Sue Joseph, published by Hybrid Publishers here in Melbourne. Alas, Martin Edmond isn’t in it, but it does look very interesting and I’ll be reading and reviewing it soon.
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Looking forward to your review!
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