Julian Davies (born 23 June 1954) is an Australian author.

Life

Davies was born on 23 June 1954 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Best known as a novelist, Davies has also written stories and non-fiction, made ceramics and paintings, and established the non-profit art galler
''The Left Hand''
A short bio describe Davies as: ... writer, potter, painter and front-man for a non profit art gallery.''Lost Art'', Braidwood, NSW, Finlay Lloyd, 2012, p. 92. Davies also co-founded the non-profit press Finlay Lloyd Publishers. Between 1972 and the late 1980s Davies trained and worked as a ceramicist, establishing a workshop and gallery in Canberra. In the early 80s he spent two years in New York, (subsequently, two of his novels, ''Revival House'' and ''The Boy'' were set in New York). Returning from New York, he built a ceramic workshop and painting studio and house in the mountains near Braidwood, NSW, moving there permanently in 1988. Building in this remote setting are written about in the biographical essay ''Out of Town''. By the late 80s he began to concentrate on writing novels. In 2005, he co-founded Finlay Lloyd Publishers. And in 2010 Davies established The Left Hand.

Works

Davies sent his first manuscript, ''Revival House'', to Penguin unsolicited in 1990, where it was published in 1991. While the book proved controversial, it received many enthusiastic reviews. Helen Elliott wrote in the

Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the ''H ...

: ‘The prose is spare and clean, the assurance is enviable, the tone measured, infallible...’ and Rob Johnson wrote in the

Adelaide Advertiser Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

: ‘...a tour de force... a strikingly accomplished performance.’ Davies’ novels are considerably varied in their stylistic approach and thematic concerns but share an overall interest in the relationship between sensual experience and how we conduct our lives, between our passions and our ethical concerns. ‘The point for Davies, in this beautifully crafted and exquisitely controlled novel (''The Beholder'') is that... it is only through affection and engagement that we can ever truly live nobly.’ (James Bradley,

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

). Davies' concern for the power of language has developed from the more straightforward clarity of his first novel, ''Revival House'' ‘...tremendously impressive... the writing is controlled and elegant,’ (Fiona Capp wrote in

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are 'to ...

), to become more expressive. ‘The area where he (Davies) exerts his mastery with most cunning is that of language. Luminous and tactile, the prose tracks so smoothly it conceals the grip it exerts. Again and again, he finds the right word, the right inflection, and the right angle... Style lends distinction of all kinds... (Peter Wolfe, University of Missouri, St Louis). His most recent novel, with drawings on nearly every page by

Phil Day (artist) Phil Day (born in August, 1973) is an Australian artist. He is formally recognised as a Notable GraduateMichael Agostino, The Australian National University School of Art: A history of the first 65 Years (Canberra, ANU, 2009), p. 243. from the ...

, takes the novel to a new place. 'Crow Mellow makes no secret of its strangeness... (it) wants not simply to look different but to be read differently too.’ (Michael Richardson, ''The Newtown Review of Books'').

Acclaim

''Revival House'' was shortlisted for the NBC Fiction Award, for the FAW Barabara Ramsdaen Best Book of the Year Award, and for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific Region) Best First Book. ''Moments of Pleasure'' was shortlisted for the 1995 Talking Book of the Year Award. ''The Beholder'' was shortlisted the NSW Premiers Award for Fiction. ''The Boy'' was shortlisted for the Victorian Premiers Award for Fiction.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Revival House'' (1991) * ''Love Parts'' (1992) * ''Moments of Pleasure'' (1994) * ''The Beholder'' (1996) * ''The Boy'' (2003) (also Actes Sud, France; Anthos, Netherlands; istiklal kitabevi, Turkey) * ''Crow Mellow'' (with drawings by Phil Day) (2014) * ''Call Me'' (with drawings by Phil Day) (2018)

Non-Fiction Books

* ''Lost Art: two essays on cultural dysfunction'' (with Phil Day) (2012) * ''Backlash: Australia’s conflict of values over live exports'' (with Bidda Jones) (2016)

Stories in Collections, Journals and Hand-Printed Books

* ''Ducks in Microstories'' (1993) * ''In Praise of Eva in Men Love Sex'', (1995) * ''Footloose in National Library of Australia News'', vol.5, No 6., (1995) * ''Saxophone in Red Hot Notes'', (1996) * ''Love and Nuts in Below the Waterline'' (1999) * ''A Pile of Hair'', (with etchings by John Pratt and monotypes by Phil Day) (2003)

Finlay Press Finlay Press is the name of an independent private press founded by Ingeborg Hansen and Phil Day (artist). It began production in Goulburn, NSW, Australia in 1997. In 2001 the press moved to Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia, where it printed it ...

artist's book * ''Memento Mori in Meanjin'', vol 63. no 3., (2004) * ''Cats Eye'', with engravings by

(2008)

artist's book

Short Non-Fiction in Collections and Journals

* ''Wet and Dry Dreams'', in ''There is no Mystery'' (1999) * ''Explicit Sex, Anyone?'' in ''When Books Die'' (2006)
''Out of Town'', in ''Meanjin'' vol.72 no1.
(2013)

Finlay Lloyd

Late in 2005, frustrated by the increasing commercialism of publishing, Davies co-founded Finlay Lloyd with

, Ingeborg Hansen and

Robin Wallace-Crabbe Robin Wallace-Crabbe (born 1938, Melbourne) has been actively involved in the Australian arts scene since the 1960s as a curator of exhibitions, literary reviewer, cartoonist, illustrator, book designer, publisher and a commenter on art. He is ...

. The intention of the press was to encourage the writing larger publishers were too risk averse to support. From 2010 Davies and Day continued the press as the two remaining founders, Day concentrating on the setting and design of the books, and Davies on their editing, publicising and distribution.

Collaboration

Davies and Phil Day
have collaborated on books since 2008. Their first collaboration being ''Cat's eye'' (2008), a short story by Davies, with copper engravings by Day. Their most recent collaborations are the "tangentially related" novels ''Crow Mellow'' (2014) and ''Call Me'' (2018).

Dorothy Johnston Dorothy Johnston (born 1948) is an Australian author of both crime and literary fiction. She has published novels, short stories and essays. Born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Johnston trained as a teacher at the University of Melbourne and ...

, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', wrote that: ''Crow Mellow is a sophisticated hybrid, a marriage of words and visual images, and it is this which most clearly sets the book apart ... Davies plus Day is a new creature entirely.''

The Left Hand

In 2010, Davies established the Left Hand in Braidwood, NSW. The premise behind the gallery was to establish a non-commercial model for art exhibition where artists felt encouraged and supported regardless of the extent of the sales of their work. His critical evaluation of the art world is contained an essay in ''Lost Art'' (another collaboration with Phil Day).

Talks and Interviews

''Eroticism''''The Left Hand''

Miscellaneous

Davies has also worked as a volunteer in public education since 2005, running classes and workshops that encourage critical thinking.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Julian Living people Australian writers 1954 births