Subbed In Author Panel at The Newtown Festival

The incredible Patrick Lenton, Alex Gallagher, Jason Gray and Emily Crocker - all part of the Subbed In family of writers - are at the vanguard of experimental writing. 

They will be in-conversation with Emma Rose Smith in another unmissable event at our Newtown Festival Writers' Space, located in the Newtown Church Hall adjacent to the festival grounds. 

The authors' books will be available for purchase and signing on the day! 

RSVPs are encouraged or you can turn up on the day. We will welcome donations on the door in support of the Newtown Festival's fundraising for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. 

About Uncle Hercules and Other Lies by Patrick Lenton

Uncle Hercules and Other Lies is a book of true stories about the nature of lies. The stories range from silly to sadly funny, and include stories that are about queer identity in action, rather than queer identity in theme—you're not gonna read a coming out story. But every story is queer culture! Also, Skyrim Dog. Shortlisted for the Scribe Non-fiction Prize, Uncle Hercules and other lies is gooey with incroyable half-fibs, formative moments, and bad life choices. 

Patrick Lenton is the Entertainment Editor at Junkee, and the author of the short story ollection A Man Made Entirely of Bats. His fiction and essays have been published in The Best Australian Stories, Going Down Swinging, The Lifted Brow, Scum Mag, The Best Australian Comedy Writing, Growing Up Queer in Australia and more. 

About HAUNT (THE KOOLIE) by Jason Gray

HAUNT (THE KOOLIE) is experimental poetry about growing up bi-cultural; a neo-Coolie meditation, exorcism of racial bigotry and satire of fear-mongering, from a decolonial Mauritian-Australian perspective.

Jason Gray is a Mauritian-Australian writer who has  lived in North-West and South-West Sydney. His work is concerned with  being bi-cultural, anti-racism, generational identity, displacement, media, suburbia and toxic/progressive masculinity. Readings and publications include: Avant Gaga, Digital Writers' Festival, Griffith Review, Zine West, and Ibis House. Jason was longlisted for the 2019 Liminal Fiction Prize. His debut book HAUNT (THE KOOLIE) was published by Subbed In in 2019.

Jason tweets @jasongray85 Jason's Instagram: @connectionrevolution

About Parenthetical Bodies by Alex Gallagher 

Parenthetical Bodies by Alex Gallagher holds you close and says “it’s okay, things are weird”. These poems explore queerness and transgressive bodies, are about what it takes to be in and amongst bodies, to be loving and empathetic in the internet age, or to survive in a city being slowly crushed under the weight of its own housing bubble. Hope glimmers and shakes as Gallagher entwines tenderness and heartache, surfing dogs and estrogen pills. 

Alex Gallagher is a writer currently living and working on Gadigal land. Their work has appeared in The Guardian, Archer Magazine, Overland and Kill Your Darlings, among others. Their debut poetry book Parenthetical Bodies was released in 2017 through Subbed In. They are currently working on its follow-up. They tweet @ALXGLLGHR

About Girls and Bouyant by Emily Crocker

Emily Crocker complicates home and family in her debut book, Girls and Buoyant.  With sensitivity and wry observation, Crocker explores old suburbs and new loves at the intersections of intimate moments and where late capitalism pokes at our lives. Girls and Buoyant is a striking debut poetry collection as Crocker presents an unflinching examination of life outside the margins of the urbanised middle class. 

Emily Crocker is a poet who came of age in Wollongong's spoken word scene while studying at the University of Wollongong. Her debut book of poetry Girls and Buoyant was released by Subbed In in 2017. She is based in Sydney. 

About Subbed In

Subbed In is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run, independent literary organisation and small press based in Sydney. They provide a platform to amplify underrepresented voices, facilitating grassroots support for young and emerging writers to achieve publication or performance. They aim to elevate the voices of trans people, people of colour, non-binary people, women, people with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, survivors, working class people, and anyone who finds themselves on the margins. 

About Emma Rose Smith

Emma Rose Smith is a writer, educator, and arts organiser living on Gadigal-Wangal land. She is interested in accountability, queerness, mental health, and the politics of representation. She directs Unspoken Words Storytelling, co-organises Word in Hand, and manages the Poetry Object competition for young people at Red Room Poetry. She moonlights as a shrinky dink aficionado and identifies as a softie.