Blog Posts - Robert Power Author

With Max Ferguson at the New York launch of "Lulu ..."

6/23/2017

Lulu in New York launched in Manhattan and London

6/7/2017

My collaboration with Max Ferguson, "Lulu in New York and Other Tales", was successfully launched, first at the iconic Strand Books in Manhattan and the following week at Waterstones Piccadilly in London. A video of the Strand event is available on the bookshop's website and on YouTube. A short film of the Waterstones event will soon be uploaded to YouTube. The book is now available in bookstores, on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher, Unicorn Press.

Lulu in New York and Other Tales launched at Strand Books in Manhattan

5/29/2017

Lulu in New York & Other Tales

5/4/2017

Nice review in the FineArt Connoisseur Magazine ahead of the New York launch:
http://fineartconnoisseur.com/2017/05/lulu-in-new-york/

Lulu in New York & Other Tales

4/22/2017

Lulu in New York & Other Tales will be launched in New York at the iconic Strand Book Store on Wednesday 24th May 2017. This 86 year-old New York landmark houses 18 miles of new, used and rare books. The shop has featured in many movies including Six degrees of Separation, Julie and Julia, Remember Me, and the Woody Allen classic Hannah and her Sisters. In 2016 The New York Times called The Strand "the undisputed king of the city's independent bookstores." One of the stories in the collection is based on Max Ferguson's painting of The Strand's owner, Fred Bass. I can't wait to be there.

Lulu in New York and the Louise Brooks Society

4/13/2017

2017/04/My new book Lulu in New York and Other Tales (Unicorn Press, UK; University of Chicago Press, USA: July 2017) is a collaboration with the American painter Max Ferguson (www.maxferguson.com) where I've written 60 short stories to 60 of his paintings, spanning the 1980s to the present day. The eponymous story is that of Louise Brooks, the silent film actress. This week the Louise Brooks Society, based in San Francisco, picked up on pre-launch publicity for the book and wrote a nice piece on its website:
http://louisebrookssociety.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/new-book-lulu-in-new-york-and-other.html

Tidetown review in 'Sydney Morning Herald.'

1/15/2016

This is the sequel to Robert Power's novel In Search of the Blue Tiger, whose child hero, Oscar Flowers, has become a seagoing pilgrim after his part in the violent death of the fishmonger, whose murderous twin daughters Carp and Perch are now languishing in jail for their crime. But they are about to be sprung by Angelica, the spoilt daughter of the Tidetown mayor. Mayhem ensues as various other characters and complications come and go, culminating in the arrival of the plague. What with its coastal setting and its small community, there's a strong sense of place in this book, but it has no real-world correspondence either in setting or in time. We could be in any country, in any year. Various words and names suggest people and places from all over the world, and the story reads like a fairy tale. Realism this is not.

Kerryn Goldsworthy "Sydney Morning Herald" 9 January 2016

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/short-reviews-of-fiction-from-australia-and-overseas-20160111-gm3aq5.html#ixzz3xHpMCYtt
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Launch of "Tidetown", my third novel.

6/29/2015

My third novel "Tidetown" will be launched at 6.30pm on Thursday 5th November at Readings Bookstore, at St Kilda, Melbourne. It will be launched by Alex West, internationally renowned director and documentary film maker.

"Tidetown" launch 5th November 2015

5/22/2015

My third novel "Tidetown" (a sequel to "In Search of the Blue Tiger") will be launched in Melbourne on Thursday, 1st October (details to follow). Here's the back of the book blurb:

Nestled on a windswept coastline, life in Tidetown is seemingly quiet and assured. But after a mysterious and mystical black-skinned slave is shipwrecked on its shores time-honoured traditions are unsettled. As events unravel the unfinished business of the barbaric Fishcutter murder comes back to haunt the townsfolk as the unforgettable twins, Perch and Carp, return.

In the wider world, rumours of wars, disease and corruption endanger the livelihood and the very existence of this sleepy town. Will Mayor Bruin provide a vision for the future? Can the monks on the Island of Good Hope offer salvation in a time when faith is tested? Can Judge Omega keep evil at bay?

All the while, Oscar Flowers, free from his Tidetown childhood, is on his own adventurous quest in lands beyond the sea: a pilgrim’s progress striving for home and purpose, and in search of what it means to be a man.

In Robert Power’s masterful third novel, Mrs April, Brother Moses, Oscar and other much-loved characters that first appeared in the magical In Search of the Blue Tiger, reconnect in an unexpected and mesmerising tale of adventure and spirit.

Praise for Robert Power

‘Psychologically astute, original and whimsical.’ Felicity Plunkett, Canberra Times ‘Dark and beautiful.’ Claire Kennedy, Herald Sun ‘Rich with observation and fine writing.’ Lucy Sussex., The Age ‘An assured storyteller … taut and compelling.’ Crusader Hillis, Australian Book Review

"Mister Softee at the Apollo" (sent to New York artist Max Ferguson as a thank you for the use of his painting on the cover of my collection of short stories)

2/24/2015

When Caleb stops the van on the corner of West 125th and Frederick Douglas Boulevard, old Mr Dabrowski looks out of the window of his shop and turns to his wife, Anya.

'Lots of crazy people on this street these days,' he says, pointing across the road, the thimble dangling from his fingertip. 'But that's one strange looking Mister Softee.'

‘Where?’ says Anya, not looking up, more interested in the line of her stitching than the comings and goings of the street outside.

It’s been years since an ice-cream van has stopped near the cross-street, what with the shootings and crackheads and muggings. But it’s where Caleb wants to be. From where he’s parked, with the window slid open, he can hear the sounds from the Apollo Theatre, just up along the way on 125th Street. It’s Wednesday, so it’s Amateur Night.

Not that anyone has come up to the van to buy ice-creams, cones or wafers, with chocolate sprinkles or raspberry sauce. But Caleb stands there, long enough to listen, long enough to remember. And soon enough the music comes to an abrupt halt: a sure sign that the Sandman is tap-dancing his way across the stage, hook outstretched.

'What you trying to sing Mister Softee man?’

Caleb sits in the driver’s seat and turns on the engine. The jingle jangles as he drives off down the boulevard.

‘Blue Moon,’ says Mr Dabrowski.

‘What?’ says his wife, pricking her finger, sucking the blood.

‘Now look what you made me do,’ she says, a single droplet of ruby red staining the edge of the dress she’s sewing.

Next Wednesday and there’s the Mister Softee van. And there he is. Looks the same. Stands the same.

‘I think he’s staring at us?’ says Anya, glancing up at the man in the white shirt, illuminated by the fluorescent light from within the van. ‘How things have changed,’ she adds with a sigh.

‘No,’ says her husband, ‘he’s just looking out. Waiting for business.’

‘Just like us,’ she says.

‘Yes, just like us,’ says Mr Dabrowski.

Caleb opens the glass door at the front of the van to let the night air and the sounds drift in. It’s windy and the music and singing from the Apollo swirl around with the ebbs and flow of the breeze.

Mister Softee strains to hear.

All the while, offstage, in the wings, looms the Sandman: judge, jury and chief executioner.

“Who ever told you you had a voice?”

It’s the next Wednesday night and there's no sign of the Mister Softee van. Mr and Mrs Dabrowski are working late, busily finishing off the ball gown for Mrs Hindhurst and adjusting the tuxedo for her husband. From time to time one or the other looks up, not quite knowingly, but noticing what’s absent from the street.

‘Blue moon,’ sings Mr Dabrowski in little more than a whisper, ‘you saw me standing alone …’

‘… without a dream in my heart …’ joins in his wife.

‘Without a love of my own …’ they both sing together, both smiling as they carry on with their tasks.

Caleb stands on the roof of the building where he’s been staying. It is dawn, but he hasn't slept. He's been looking up at the sky for hours. There's something strangely comforting about the way it changes yet stays the same. Sometimes being alone is all he can manage. He tries to think a bit, as if thoughts might help. There’s a yellowing and reddening in the sky. There’s a hint of a breeze. Maybe tomorrow he’ll get back in the ice-cream van. Maybe tomorrow he’ll be Mister Softee again.