Australia's Trail-Blazing First Novelist: John LangWhat a life! What a story! Superbly researched and wonderfully crafted Peter FitzSimons 'Writer, journalist, barrister, larrikin' Who was the first Australian novelist? John Lang, born in a Parramatta pub in 1816 with the convict stain upon him, was a singular character. The first native born person to have a novel published, he was also a newspaperman, a classical scholar and translator, barrister, celebrity, jailbird enigma. He was hugely energetic,