“I’m wearing pajama pants, no shirt,” I reply.
“Excellent, I’m not wearing a shirt either!” he exclaims. “We should smear ketchup on our stomachs so we can be on Cops!”
Babiak has some serious cred as a writer. He’s a columnist for the Edmonton Journal, in which his second novel, The Garneau Block (winner of the Edmonton Book Prize), was serialized. With the success of that endeavour, he decided to do the same with his latest novel, The Book of Stanley, which has its launch in book form this week.
Stanley is 60-something years old, estranged from his son and dying of multiple cancers. He and his wife make peace with his impending demise — until something extraordinary happens in the backyard. He’s no longer sick. He’s strong. He can read minds. He can fly. “At first, he has trouble dealing with all this, he tries to hide it,” says Babiak. “But people across Canada start to plug into him, which confuses him even more. They all end up going to Banff, which, according to his spiritual advisor, is the most sacred place on Earth. They start a spectacular new religion, and a story ensues.”
The idea for the novel began with personal tragedy. “In a one-year period, my dad, my grandfather, my grandmother, two uncles and an aunt all died. Before that, I’d never even been to a funeral,” says Babiak. “I didn’t grow up with religion, and it was really strange to hear all these people come up to me and say, ‘Don’t worry, they’re in heaven looking down on you, they’re really happy.’ As comforting as they found it, I found it bizarre and couldn’t believe it. That got me thinking about the kind of religion we see now, this sort of commoditized investment that ignores the great rituals and stories at its base.” He laughs. “So anyway, I just thought, ‘What sort of plot can I write that talks about all this stuff?’”
At his launch, the suit-clad Babiak hopes to create an evening to remember. “I don’t like readings that are done in a half-hour boring monotone,” he says. “But it’s hard for poor old novelists — when you’re reading from a book, you’re not as good as a musician, not as visual as a movie, and of course you’re not a play. I think book launches should be parties. I’ll read a bit from the book, answer some questions, mingle, have some drinks and try not to be boring.” You can check out the Calgary launch of The Book of Stanley at McNally Robinson on September 6, 7 p.m.
The Calgary Poetry Slam returns this week, hosted by the 2007 Calgary Slam Team — Shone Abet, Möe Clark, Kirk Ramdath and Sabo — with a brand-new open mic component to complement the high-flying competitive poetry action. Bring some work to share, or just sit back and enjoy the flow at the Auburn Saloon on August 30, 8 p.m., $5.
Easy questions, tricky answers — that’s the basis for Karen Proctor’s book, Questions for the Possibilities, an examination of Christianity in contemporary life. Check her out at McNally Robinson on September 4, noon.
The wild debauchery of Red Mile Revenge is back. Its lively host, Selina Clary, welcomes writers of all stripes to share their work with a warm and welcoming audience. The action hits Tubby Dog on September 4, 8 p.m.
Every book needs buried Nazi gold. In John Warner’s Golden Quest, a boring magazine assignment spins out of control, taking Raymond Burton and his attractive female cohorts on a treasure hunt and putting them in the sights of vicious multinational agencies. It’s high intrigue at McNally Robinson on September 6, noon.
flywheel goes back to school. Hosts Emily Elder and Bronwyn Haslam welcome the new semester with a cadre of new students from the University of Calgary’s Creative Writing Program, a mystery line-up that will showcase the school’s hot new talent. Check out the newest installment of flywheel on McNally Robinson’s patio, September 6, 7 p.m.
Oh! And MTV recently announced its first Poet Laureate. Props to John Ashbery.
