Praise forHello, Horse
"The animal world interacts with the human one in confounding and sometimes wondrous ways in Kemicks first collection, which abounds with the poets sideways, observational writing."
Globe and Mail
"The tales here mix whimsy, weirdness, lust, and Canadian politics, bringing to mind George Saunders and the slackers from Waynes World . . . He has a penchant for alternating between things familiar and bizarre . . . Provocative, entertaining short fiction."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Restless, exuberant, meandering, funny, inventive, and really quite bonkers . . . Either Kemick is one of those rare, savant-like authors whose outpouring is naturally (and enviably) stylish, or he tempers what seems to be a natural, baroque extravagance with careful, word-by-word revision. Whatever the case, readers will noticeand ought to appreciatethose sentences . . . All in all, Hello, Horse gallops and canters, dazzles and makes a splash. Prepare to be wowed."
The Miramichi Reader
"Overall, Kemick has balanced visually rich absurdity . . . and the general malaise of youth with admirable, poetic flair. This is an unapologetically unique slice of Canadiana."
The BC Review
"Richard Kelly Kemicks Hello, Horse is wildly original and filled with astonishing moments. A wonderful collection that resonates long after reading."
Don Gillmor, author of Breaking and Entering
"Hello, Horse is beguiling and wondrous, with talking dogs and nuns at the end of the world, images that linger with strange pleasure; Richard Kelly Kemick is a stellar wordsmith."
Mark Anthony Jarman, author of Burn Man
Praise for Richard Kelly Kemick"Kemick convincingly wrests the sublime from the trivial. He manages, astonishingly, a tone both earnest and ironic, with details and insights that are lively, unexpected, funny, and poignant."
National Magazine Awards
Richard Kemick spends a summer in Alberta's Bible Belt where it may be easier to find God than a vegetarian meal. There, he confronts age-old questions about belief with near-miraculous freshness, honesty, and humour. A deeply personal investigation of the blurred border between faith and imagination.
Marcello Di Cintio, author of Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers
Laugh out loud funny . . . Kemicks own faith or lack thereof is . . . one of the deeper themes that courses beneath the comedy.
Calgary Herald
Wisecracking, earnest, and charmingly obsessive, Kemick introduces himself here as a poet who believes in something larger than his own self, and so is a poet to watch.
Nick Thran
