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Meet the author of the vulnerable folly Everybody Just C@lm the F#ck Down—Robert Chafe! 

Describe yourself in one sentence.
A perplexing blend of untethered ego and crushing self-doubt. 

Tell us a little bit about your new book.
A 75-minute exploration of the above. Sounds like a hoot.  But seriously… about eight years ago I ended up in a Regina emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack. That was the beginning of many years of unexplained symptoms. The constant threat of death, in the face of the actual death of others, can really do a number on a guy. This play was my attempt to make sense of some of the bigger questions life likes to throw, and my attempt to come to a peace about life’s stubborn refusal to offer any answers. But look at that title, you just know it can’t be all that dour right? 

What’s something unique about you or something you like to do?
I’m not sure what’s unique about me, part of that crushing self-doubt perhaps. I’m enjoying riding my bike a lot these days. Time spent outside, and in my happy place (see below). 

What does your happy place look like?
The sun is shining, I’m sitting on grass/sand, and the view past my toes is blue water. Doesn’t even have to be warm water. Lucky, considering where I live. 

What is something you’re curious about?
The future. The past. What makes people tick. The usual. 

What are some of your favourite plays?
Angels in America. The December Man. The Laramie Project. Poor Super Man. Here Lies Henry. Certainly the most lasting influence on me. 

What are you reading these days?
Jennifer Egan’s latest novel The Candy House. I’m also re-reading Souvankham Thammavongsa’s How to Pronounce Knife. I have a few books lying around dog-eared right now. I’ve started dog-earing books, that’s new.

What’s something that makes you laugh?
I like giving cartoonish voices to inanimate objects. Mostly food. Brings me no end of delight. I guess that’s kinda “a unique thing about me” right?

Learn more about Robert Chafe:
Robert Chafe is a writer, educator, actor, and arts administrator based in St. John’s, Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). He has worked in theatre, dance, opera, radio, fiction, and film. His stage plays have been seen in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and in the United States, and include Oil and Water, Tempting Providence, Afterimage, Under Wraps, Between Breaths, and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (adapted from the novel by Wayne Johnston). He has been shortlisted twice for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama and he won the award for Afterimage in 2010. He has been a guest instructor at Memorial University, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and the National Theatre School of Canada. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Memorial University. He is the playwright and artistic director of Artistic Fraud.