Wednesday 31 August 2016

New Publications


A few contributions to new anthology publications:


Along with a number of other Australian creatives, I was invited by a teenage girl named Grace Halphen to give advice to my own 13-year-old self, given that people usually have a particularly difficult time at this age. A terrific and somewhat therapeutic project that will be launched in Melbourne, September 11, you can find out more about it here: http://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/letter-to-my-teenage-self/  


A variety of Australian writers were asked to contribute short essays on influential books, particularly those read while young. My own contribution covers my favourite novels, short stories, picture books and comics that either set me on my path or irrevocably derailed me, depending on how you want to look at it. More about it here.


For German readers only, Was ist los an meiner Tür? – What is outside my front door? – is a collection of short stories by winners of the young-people's literature prize, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (I won an award once for a translation of Tales from Outer Suburbia). I've contributed two original short stories to this collection, 'Pig' and 'Parrot', and enjoyed the rare opportunity to have my writing illustrated by another artist (Aljoscha Blau). More about this anthology here.

And of course, The Singing Bones has just now been published in the UK (Walker Books) and the US (Arthur A Levine Books), featuring a new foreword by Neil Gaiman (who I've known for a couple of decades now, thankyou once again Neil!). Walker UK has also produced a limited boxed edition which includes two signed prints, all wonderfully designed by Nghiem Ta, with whom I've worked on a number of other projects. More about The Singing Bones here.


And you can hear me prattling on about origins and inspirations here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKAdkCc90Ng

Tuesday 30 August 2016

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Exhibition at VAMOS, Melbourne CBD

Gambling Hans, wire, paper, clay, paint, 30cm tall

If you happen to be around the upper end of Little Bourke St in Melbourne, do drop by the South American bar and restaurant VAMOS where I'm exhibiting a selection of limited edition prints from The Singing Bones, plus a pointy sculpture of a wolf, alongside an exhibition of work by Inari Kiuru, Saturnalia Industrialis, a speculative meditation on 'industrial moths'. You might even catch some live flamenco! The exhibition runs throughout August, September and beyond; more about VAMOS here.

Also, if you'd like to see the sculpture shown here, drop by the excellent bookstore Brunswick Bound on Sydney Rd in Brunswick (Melbourne) where it sits behind the counter. It depicts a moment when Death is tricked in to climbing a magical tree from which he can't descend for seven years: during that time, nobody dies. 

Monday 22 August 2016

The Greatest Cat in the World, oil 150 x 100cm

A stand-alone painting that also relates to a short story of the same title (published in an Australian anthology, Rich and Rare). It was used by the Financial Times UK this weekend to illustrate the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, and also accompany an interview piece by Lorien Kite related to the forthcoming publication of The Singing Bones in the UK on September 1. You can read the full article here.

Thursday 18 August 2016

Yellow tree on a windy day, Parkville, oil 20 x 15cm

Sunday 7 August 2016

Friday 5 August 2016

Monday 1 August 2016