Decadence

" The result of this ‘accidental memoir of a sort’ is a deeply genuine, anxiously original, and immensely enjoyable portrait of life in progress.”
—2026 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction Jury

“An opening piece about his ongoing relationship, begun in teenagehood, with his miniature Christmas village sets the tone for this whimsical, Sedaris-esque collection of autobiographical essays.”
—Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail

“Kemick has a way of noticing odd details and meaningful moments that pass us by when we are with those closest to us.”
—Bill Paul, BC Review

“Funny and poignant . . . It’s a weird and rewarding ride.”
—Publishers Weekly

In Decadence, Richard Kelly Kemick’s “accidental memoir of a sort,” the author ranges widely through his myriad preoccupations and obsessions (volleyball, municipal landfills, dogs, high school plays, Christmas villages, love) out of which the shape of a unique sensibility is revealed. Reminiscent of the three Davids—Rakoff, Sedaris, and Wallace—these essays accrete into a portrait of a man trying to make sense of a world in which there are no goddamn rules; and yet one in which every action has sometimes profound consequences.

Online

• “Living with My Ex” in Maclean’s.
• “I Tried to Finish a Dead Man’s Novel” in The Walrus.
• “Six Minutes” on CBCs Radio’s Now or Never
• “The Night of the Good Towels” on CBC Radio’s The Doc Project.
• “Footprints in the Sand” in Taddle Creek.
• “Selling the Kemick House” on CBC Radio’s The Doc Project.
• “Scrapyard” in The Puritan.
• “The Young Taxidermist of Alberta” in Taddle Creek.
• “Mother’s Day” on CBC Radio’s The Doc Project.
• “The Christmas Village Dictator” on CBC’s The Doc Project.
• “Through the Aquarium Glass” in The Walrus.
• “Sweeping It under the Carpet” in The Walrus.
• “Life After Late Fees” in The Walrus.
• “Playing God” in The Walrus.
• “The Other Side of Lost” in MONTECRISTO Magazine.