Let's make this birthday one to remember.

86 years old (Born on October 17, 1938)

Happy Birthday, Les Murray! May your day be filled with poetic inspiration and fewer moments spent dealing with subhuman rednecks (although they've clearly inspired your most brilliant verses). With masterpieces like "Subhuman Redneck Poems" and "Dog Fox Field," you've shown us how to find beauty—and laughter—even in life's quirkiest corners.

Congratulations on continually captivating readers and proving that a literary critic can still win hearts (and awards—cue the T.S. Eliot Prize and Queen’s Gold Medal!). Here's hoping your birthday is timelessly joyful, thoroughly Australian, and creatively chaotic. Keep penning brilliance—we're all eager for more of Murray's lyrical magic!