Editor's note: A little more than 20 years ago the Book Review asked a group of fiction writers, age 40 or younger, to name the writer or writers who had most influenced their work and to explain how. It seemed like a good time to put the same question to a new generation of writers.
AustLit note: Nine writers are included in the article. One, Nell Freudenberger, nominates an Australian writer - Peter Carey. Freudenberger's response is on p.9.