AustLit

'In the micro stories of Lost Words, Xavier Hennekinne’s narrator takes us on a reflective journey from his entranced yet perplexed youth in France to sleepless nights as a contemporary parent. This compelling voyage through time and mood is accompanied by images by Phil Day. Just as the prose entwines us in its subtle recurring rhythms, the prints and drawings are never literal, taking ordinary objects but revealing their sinuous shapes out of dark and suggestive structures.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Call Me is Julian Davies’ seventh novel. Tangentially related to his previous social satire, Crow Mellow, this is a contemporary Australian story of thwarted young love, and an ambitious attempt to take us deep within the lives and experience of two perceptive yet conflicted teenagers in their last year of school. If love beset by complication is a familiar pattern in fiction, then, in this story, complication dances beguilingly between reality and absurdity.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Hartmann Wallis, who has a wild and somewhat incestuous relationship with the well-known author and artist Robin Wallace-Crabbe, has a punchy new collection of poetry released by Finlay Lloyd on 13 August. Hartmann is something of an enigma, but Wallace-Crabbe has had many books published both here and overseas, including literary works, crime fiction novels (as Robert Wallace) and non-fiction essays. The book is richly illustrated by Phil Day, including two colour watercolours.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of prose poetry from Cassandra Atherton creates a naturally intimate world while, at the same time, fluidly examining complex connections between popular and high culture.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Julian Davies’ sixth and most unusual novel, is a contemporary social satire closely based on Aldous Huxley’s first novel (from 1921), Crome Yellow. This playful response to another book is startlingly furthered by the text being surrounded by almost 400 drawings by Phil Day, whose hand-made books are collected by many state and university libraries, including The National Library of Australia. In this lively collaboration between words and pictures, the illustrations form a closely related parallel visual text that weave around and interact with the unfolding story. Set in multi-millionaire Mitchell Rimbush’s bush retreat, where artists and writers on the make gather with their wealthy admirers, conversation is the one constant prerequisite.' (Publication abstract)