Local author wins “BookBrunch” Selfie award for hybrid novel

Australian author Luke Icarus Simon has won the memoir category of the 2026 Selfies Book Awards in the UK for his hybrid novel The Art in My Palm (Stirling Publishers).

Established by the UK industry publication BookBrunch in 2018, the Selfies were created to “discover new talent and recognise the best self-published titles each year”. In 2026 the competition was opened up to international entrants and received double the entries of previous year. Simon is the first Australian to win.

The winner of the general fiction award was Flint in the Bones (Eva St John) and the winner of the children’s fiction award was Kringle’s Emporium (Jemma Hatt).

The Art in My Palm was described by the Selfies as “a genre-defying debut blending memoir, autobiographical fiction and 1970s historical events […] [a] bold, queer coming of age tale […] set against the backdrop of war, abuse and displacement”.

Judge Neill Denny, editor of BookBrunch, said The Art in My Palm was “both well written and moving, with a strong narrative drive and compelling cast of characters”.

Fellow judge, literary agent and founder of Redhammer Management Peter Cox said, “I’ve always suspected that there was a great and poignant story to be told about the Cypriot Australian population; one of alienation, longing and redemption – maybe this is it.”

Simon is also the author of Swimming in Words (2024). The Art in My Palm was longlisted for the UK Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award.

Category: Awards Local news