Cyprus-born Australian playwright and author Luke Icarus Simon will release his debut novel The Art in My Palm worldwide on 14 September 2025.
According to a press release by Stirling Publishing, the book blends fiction, memoir, and historical events to explore displacement, identity, and resilience during Cyprus’s turbulent modern history.
Timed to coincide with the 51st anniversary of Cyprus’s division, the book follows Demosthenes, a teenage boy uprooted by the 1974 war and resettled with his family in Australia. The narrative traces his struggle with abuse, silence over his emerging sexuality, and the search for belonging in a foreign country that views him as an outsider. Creativity becomes his means of survival and self-expression.
Identity and intergenerational trauma
Set between Nicosia’s streets and migrant suburbs in Australia, the novel confronts intergenerational trauma, cultural identity and the healing power of art. It reflects on the legacy of colonisation and war while situating Cyprus’s history within broader global experiences of exile.
Five excerpts from the book have already appeared in Australian literary journals including Southerly, Overland and Famous Reporter.
The author
Simon, who has published eight books over four decades, is also known for his plays Fish Wednesday and A Little House On An Island In The Aegean. His 2024 poetry collection Swimming in Words: New and Selected Poems was named an Editor’s Pick by Publishers Weekly Booklife.
Publishers Weekly described The Art in My Palm as “a striking portrait of an individual search for belonging and safety,” while Midwest Book Review praised Simon’s earlier work as “poetry that sizzles with emotional and cultural impact.”
Release
The novel will be published worldwide in hardcover on 14 September 2025, with a paperback edition on 14 October 2025 and an eBook on 14 December 2025.
