Corowa author, Luke Icarus Simon has been awarded the 2025 Eyelands Book Awards Prize in the LGBTQI category for his book, Swimming in Words, at a ceremony in Greece in December.
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After being the ‘bridesmaid’ four times, Simon found out about his win on New Year’s Eve, which he said was good validation and the best way to end a year.
“It’s wonderful to be appreciated by people who don’t know me,” he said.
“It’s not like family or friends, or even someone who’s followed my career, it’s a judging panel I’ve never met.”
The Eyelands Book Awards are an international book contest established nine years ago by Eyelands literary magazine and Greek publishing house Strange Days Books.
The 2025 competition received submissions from 33 countries.
Corowa author Luke Simon has been recognised internationally for his collection of poems, Swimming in Words.
Simon, who moved to Corowa in 2017, is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, actor, director and author.
He’s written, produced, directed and starred in teleplays for the ABC, SBS TV, Event Cinemas and the AFTRS over the past 43 years.
A Greek immigrant, Simon began as an actor in the 1980s but found there were few roles for someone with his looks.
“Today you’ll see a black Hamlet, or an Indian Romeo, but not back then,” he said.
“As a Greek, I stuck out like a sore thumb.”
Fuelled with a belief that he wouldn’t get a meaningful part unless he created it for himself, and acting teachers who encouraged him to write, he started writing and performing his own plays followed by screen plays.
The Eyelands Book Award Prize caps off multiple nominations for Simon's latest two books.
Last week he received news that his first novel, The Art in My Palm, had made the longlist of the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award, its fourth nomination since being released in October.
“Most of the nominees are in the non-fiction category and published by powerhouse conglomerates so it is amazing to be included,” Simon said.
Luke Simon’s first novel, The Art in My Palm, has been longlisted for the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award.
Swimming in Words is a collection of poetry, described in the Midwest Book Review USA as “poetry that sizzles with emotional and cultural impact; Swimming in Words is a fine acquisition that outlines journeys of survival, adaptation, and celebration”.
A Publisher’s Weekly review said, “Simon delivers poignant and urgent mastery in this work…it reads like a hero’s journey, documenting and exemplifying a powerful human response to the world’s cruelties and complexities”.
In the peaceful retreat he’s found at home, he’s now editing two books, working on a third and says moving to Corowa eight years ago was the best decision he’s made.
“I’ve never met people like I have in Corowa,” he said.
“When you live in Sydney there are constant distractions, and creating something on a page from nothing requires such focus.
“We all have heartbreak and loss, and I’ve explored this in my poetry, but we have to create the world we want to live in.
“Corowa was a wonderful decision in hindsight; you can be a writer, you can win awards, and you can live in a small town.”
Swimming in Words is published by Stirling Publishing Australia and can be bought at www.lukeicarussimon.com or online at book retailers.
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