Cirrus@Austlit

'The measure of skin navigates the surging waves of anti-identity sweeping the world today, where one’s propensity to stand out in the crowd — because of skin colour and gender persuasion — becomes a howl for acceptance and recognition in the streets where humanity thrives, in the walls where hope breathes, in another’s touch where love resides. They are poems that are not just about love, but of how love and faith in one’s identity transcend the ideals of a normative reality.' (Publication summary)

'On my frequent trips back to Manila, I often marvel at the range of books and literary material now occupying the shelves of bookstores. There’s the usual fare of fiction thrillers, children’s books, academic and scholarly reference books, and religion-based how-to guides. There’s also a flood of young adult and poetry books.'  (Introduction)

'Anxiety is an insidious condition. It is debilitating, frustrating and utterly life changing. It inhabits the shadows, the thick rays of light and the dense corners of the dark. In times when there seems to be no escape from it, the simplest thing—a warm touch, a sincere smile—could offer warmth, salvation and solace. This is how it is to be anxious, in epistles of simple truths. The Heaving Pavement is an experimental memoir in verse, prose and illustrated forms.' (Publication summary)

'Like any other schoolgirl, Samira just wants to make friends in Sydney's suburbia, despite the birthmark on her face and her harrowing experience as a refugee from Afghanistan. When she meets Brooke, the promise of friendship becomes enticing. But the actions and words of a select few threaten their hopeful bond. Together, Samira and Brooke face an inevitably vicious world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In this new collection of poetry, Ramon Loyola infuses his verses with the same sentimentality and poignancy evident in his debut work, not poems, just words. I Look For You In Other Truths is full of afterthoughts and musings on what you see, smell, touch, hear and feel as you navigate the alleyways of grief, love and loss. It's about the chances you take and the choices you make, the potential and the promise of loving again and the hope of not failing again. It's about the excitement of another's touch and the ecstasy you feel when you dare to touch back. It's about the colours you see in someone else's eyes, the heartbeats you hear, when you're standing really, really close to someone. I Look For You In Other Truths is about your life that is waiting to be shared. Ramon Loyola is the author of not poems, just words: on loving, living and longing, a collection of prose poems written over a period of two decades. I Look For You In Other Truths is his second book.' (Publication summary)

'A collection of prose poems on love, loss, longing and yearning, and on dealing with the vagaries of life. This is a small journey from the deepest emotions of love and loss to the sometimes overwhelming realisation of the beauty of life. Less

'A finalist in the 2014 Indie Excellence Awards, this is a collection of prose poems on love, loss, longing and yearning, and on dealing with the vagaries of life. It is a small journey from the deepest emotions of love and loss to the sometimes overwhelming realisation of the beauty of life.' (Publication summary)