Book Launch – “Murder and Other Essays” by David Adams Richards

7:00 PM
Student Lounge, James Dunn Hall

Join the St. Thomas University community in celebrating the launch of David Adams Richards’ latest book, Murder and Other Essays. The launch will take place Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm in Student Lounge, Sir James Dunn Hall.

Murder is one of Richards' great subjects. In his novels, in the Russian classics he loves, and in his life, murder has been a shaping force. The title of this volume refers to a suite of essays on the subject: a hitchhiker with whom David strikes up an unnerving philosophical debate; the killers of the Miramichi and their victims; Caligula; the villains of Russian literature; and, forever in David's mind as he examines this grim topic, the self-deception involved in the allure of evil. But in this wide-ranging collection there is much to delight in too: married love; family; travel; the beauty of the natural world; even Wayne Gretzky is invited to the party.

David's principled outlook and spirituality inform his thinking throughout. And he draws many of his favourite writers into the discussion – from Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, Mary Shelley to Alden Nowlan – reveling in their work as sources of ideas, inspiration, and sheer literary pleasure. The book also contains at its midpoint a literary debut: a slim but substantial collection of David's poetry.

David Adams Richards is one of Canada’s preeminent writers. His recent novels include Mary Cyr and Principles to Live By, as well as Crimes Against My Brother and Incidents in the Life of Markus Paul, both of which were longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Among his other novels, Mercy Among the Children won the Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Trillium Award. Richards has written four bestselling books of nonfiction: Lines on the Water, God Is, Facing the Hunter, and Hockey Dreams. He has been listed by The Tablet as “one of the living Catholics doing the most to change the way we imagine ourselves and understand the world.”

In 2017, David Adams Richards was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.