Lethologica Press is a small independent press based in the Western half of Australia. We publish contemporary art books/catalogues, poetry, prose, limited editions and online projects. The press was started in 2005 by artist Perdita Phillips, with writer Nyanda Smith coming on board a few years later. Lethologica Press originally began because we wanted to increase the visibility of contemporary artists in Western Australia and encourage analytical dialogue with their work via art catalogues with a critical writing component.
Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld, forming the boundary between the Underworld and the Elysion. It flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. It is also the name for the spirit or muse of the river. This classical pretext forms the word-base for the medical condition of lethologica, or, the temporary forgetting of words, names of phrases and is thus, by poetic inversion, a playful tribute to when words fail us, when they are on the tip of our tongue, to the affective dimension of visual arts before words and to the synergies generated when image and text interact.
As a press, we’re interested in publishing projects in a variety of forms both conventional and experimental. We work from hi-fi to improvisational, from low cost to no cost. The subject matters are wide, and interest in the critical engagement with creative practices, is deep. What rocks our boat the most are happy relationships to be found between art and text.
On a practical note, we very much welcome news of projects from creative artists and writers, but we do not currently accept unsolicited manuscripts.
