'Oily' book launch at the Nelson Library
By Contributor
It takes one to know one, and novelist Chris Dawson knows the business and its characters. The former senior communications strategist for Petro Canada set out to shed light on the issues of oil sands and the environment through fiction—and be entertaining about it. Dawson launches his new novel Oily Business on Tuesday, January 19 at 7pm at the Nelson Public Library.
The inciting incident in Oily Business is a helicopter crash that strands an oil-sands spin-doctor and a leading environmentalist together in the wilderness. As industry spokesperson Keith Weston and anti-tar-sands activist Gerry Culver await rescue, they are forced to confront one another and their own beliefs.
While Dawson allows that “there is some of myself in Keith Weston,” all of the characters are amalgams of people he’s met and attitudes he’s encountered. When Dawson first began working in the industry he thought he might be able to make a difference “from the inside” in how petrochemical production is communicated, but discovered that at the end of the day, it’s a business. Disenchanted, Dawson moved to the Kootenays, where he now works as a fly fishing guide.
Initially, Dawson set out to write a serious book about the industry. With a resume that includes numerous magazine articles (including awards for nature writing), two nonfiction books, and stints as a senior writer for the Calgary Herald and as press secretary to an Alberta cabinet minister, it seemed a logical fit. But a fictional approach offered an opportunity to be provocative—even satirical—and to marry his environmental writing with his oilpatch writing. The result is Oily Business.
“I hope the book resonates with readers on many different levels,” he says.
Dawson will read from the book and answer questions about the novel and his experience in the industry. Copies of the book will be for sale. Doors open at 6:30.
