Calgary playwright Ken Cameron is positively ecstatic. He pulls out the Calgary Sun and laughs at the article about two Aussies mauled by a bear 15 years ago who are now suing the Canadian government. The Aussies claim the feds are responsible for the savage attack. “If I went to Australia and got bit by a shark, I wouldn’t sue the Australian government because I know Australian waters have sharks,” he says.

Cameron is worked up because of the book launch for his upcoming play collection Harvest and Other Plays, by NeWest Press. So far, he has only enjoyed the publication of a chapbook by the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada, and a few articles in some newspapers and magazines. The publication of this collection marks a big step forward in his work as a playwright.

The book contains three of Cameron’s plays: Harvest, a two-hander (a play with only two characters) that originally premièred at Lunchbox Theatre before it was expanded into a two-act play that premièred at the Blythe Festival; My Morocco, a monologue (performed by Cameron) which toured the fringe festival circuit before opening in Calgary through a collaboration between Ground Zero Theatre, One Yellow Rabbit and The Desert Bus Company; and My One and Only, which premièred at Alberta Theatre Projects.

Those hoping to attend the launch can expect to enjoy a staged reading of each play, featuring actors Barbara Gates Wilson and Peter Rumpel, who will read from Harvest and My One and Only, as well as Cameron, who will read from My Morocco.

Cameron says the publication experience is quite different from seeing one’s work performed onstage. “A play is only a play when you put actors and costumes and a set onstage and, most crucially, when an audience comes in and engages with the material. And there’s no replacement for the magical feeling and energy and zest that comes from watching your ideas come alive in front of you, and hearing people laugh in response…. Now having said all that, publication is very important for the life of the play because it really leads to those vital second, third and fourth productions. It’s one thing for me to contact all kinds of artistic directors and say, ‘You should do my play.’ It’s quite another thing when it’s published; it lends a certain kind of legitimacy to it.”

Seeing his work professionally printed also gets him riled up. “A month ago, I’d have said it doesn’t compare at all [to a production]. But now that the book is actually in front of me and it’s actually published and there’s going to be three book launches in the next three weeks and I can actually hold it in my hand, it’s actually pretty special.”