Richard Kelly Kemick

Richard Kelly Kemick’s poetry and prose have been published in literary magazines and journals across North America, including The Walrus, The New Quarterly, This Magazine, Numéro Cinq, and Taddle Creek. His many awards include two National Magazine Awards, the Norma Epstein Award, and most recently, the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s 2019 Howard O’Hagan Award for Best Short Story. His debut poetry collection, Caribou Run, was published to critical acclaim in 2016 and selected by the CBC as one of the season’s Must Read Collections.

Website: https://richardkemick.com/

Kemick’s book is that delicious cross between Waiting for Guffman and The Studhorse Man, a rousing personal comedy that dances between the sweat of art and the glue of experience. Nothing like it exists in non-fiction, but don’t read it for that reason. Read it because it sticks to your fingers and you can’t shake it off.” — Dave Bidini

FESTIVAL BOOK

I Am Herod

On a whim, armchair atheist Richard Kelly Kemick joins the 100-plus cast of The Canadian Badlands Passion Play, North America’s largest production of the life of Christ performed on Canada’s largest outdoor stage. By the time closing night is over, Kemick has a story to tell. From controversial casting choices to the bizarre rehearsals, this glorious behind-the-scenes look at one of Canada’s strangest theatrical spectacles also confronts the role of religion in contemporary life and the void left by its absence for non-believers.