'Australian Legends' stamps have been given out since 1997 in a sort of common man's Australia Day honours list. This year, writers get a run, with no surprises to be found on the blocks.

Each one is immediately recognisable and unarguably 'iconic' - eek! That damnable epithet!

Three of the writers are of the distinctly 'literary' type: Peter Carey, Tim Winton and David Malouf. Two are 'popular' authors - Colleen McCulloch and Bryce Courtenay. Then there's that rag-and-bones man, Tom Keneally, whose inclusion is far from unexpected but whose output defies easy analysis comprising, as it does, historical fiction, history, and general fiction.

Iconic literary journo Susan Wyndham was given the job of covering the release for The Sydney Morning Herald.

A notable did-not-run - at least for me - is Christos Tsiolkas. The Melbourne-based writer is arguably the best writer working in Australia today.