Draft:Paul J. Davies (Canadian writer)

• Comment: At present, a lot of the "sources" provided are comments and/or general references to Davies's work. Please provide reliable, independent sources with significant coverage of Davies and/or his work, such as book reviews, to establish notability. Significa liberdade (she/her) (talk) 06:55, 28 February 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: copy and paste content from another webste but give different refrence. dont do this second time, which effect your contribution. Endrabcwizart (talk) 16:20, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

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Paul J. Davies (born 7 June, 1954, Vancouver B.C.) was employed in writing, commercial art, publishing, consulting, business management, and computer programming and application design in Canada for forty-eight years.

Davies' first career was as an antiquarian bookseller and craft publisher. Next, principal author for a technical and environmental study for Lancaster Sound Region, with field work, in the Canadian High Arctic. Following this, Davies produced type and art for more than 1,000 books, among Canada's most prolific book artists, earning six Alcuin Society design awards. Most recently, Davies created and was project manager for Visual Compliance, a large-scale global trade export control system, co-earning two U.S. Patents for advanced technologies.

Since 1992, Davies has published eleven creative fiction books with Canadian small presses, and thirty-eight Tibetan-language sadhana books with Riwoche Society.

Career

Bookselling and Craft Publishing

Born in Vancouver, Davies came to Toronto in 1970 to study baroque music at The Royal Conservatory of Music. Taking an interest in typography, Davies studied Book Arts at night. In 1971 he founded Vathek Books, an antiquarian bookselling business; in 1973 the youngest person ever admitted to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.

Davies began a craft publishing enterprise, Basilike, in 1974 featuring the work of English authors prominent in the 1930s and 40s. A significant financial failure on account of youth and inexperience, Davies' publishing archive is now at the University of Alberta, and was the topic of a non-thesis Master of Library Science project in 1981. Davies was invited to write a memoir of this project which was published by Carleton University Press in 1987.

Technical Writing for Frontier Hydrocarbon Exploration

After attending University of Toronto in mathematics 1979-81, Davies found employment in Calgary, Alberta, where for four years he was engaged as a research analyst and technical writer in frontier oil and gas. His major project was the data synthesis and writing of the Resource Management Plan for Lancaster Sound Region Hydrocarbon Development, a four-year, $1.2 million technical and environmental study under the direction of Dr. A.E. Pallister, O.C., in support of an application to drill an oil well offshore in the High Arctic. Davies spent 48 weeks in field work in North Baffin.

Type and Art for Trade Book Production

Returning to Toronto in 1985, Davies was retained for a joint government-industry undertaking to conceive and implement an automated system for type and art for book manufacturing. This project was successfully completed, and enjoyed good publicity. Over the following twelve years under a concurrent book arts contract, Davies designed and produced more than 1,000 trade, scholarly, reference, and legal books operating as ECW Type & Art, designed and implemented a second substantial computer production system for legal books, and was awarded six Alcuin Society national design awards. As well, Davies taught at Ryerson Polytechnical University from Sept 1995 to June 1997 in computing methods for book publishing.

The books Davies designed and produced between 1985 and 1999 included fiction, poetry, scholarly, history, biography, art, travel, bibliography, reference, legal and legal looseleaf, and periodicals — for ECW Press, Butterworths Canada, House of Anansi, General Publishing and Stoddart Publishing, Véhicule Press, Quarry Press, York University, Dryden (Holt Rinehart & Winston), Bibliographical Society of Canada, Copp Clark Pitman, Moonstone Press, Octopus, McClelland and Stewart, University of Toronto, Aya Press, The Porcupine's Quill, Camden House, AMS Press, and others.

Creative Writing

Starting to write creative fiction on mythic themes in 1991, Davies published eleven books with ECW Press, Vehicule Press, and Insomniac Press, prominent Ontario and Quebec small presses, lastly with two reissue collections in 2020. Davies attended University of Toronto 1998-99 in Latin and English Grammar; did not continue and changed careers from book design and production on account of eye damage.

Controlled Goods Export Security System

In 2000, Davies became project manager at a major global trade systems manufacturer, where he created and developed online applications — in particular Visual Compliance, a compliance system for controlled goods export, which helps prevent bad agents from unlawfully purchasing defense trade or other sensitive items items for their purposes, a contribution to public safety and widely subscribed around the world. In 2013, Davies and a co-developer were awarded a U.S. Patent for a component technology, then a second U.S. Patent in 2017 for a security technology. Davies retired from this occupation in late 2019.

Tibetan Language Book Production

In 2005, Davies put together a high-quality Tibetan-language typesetter, and over the following twelve years produced thirty-eight Sadhana practice texts and prayer books in Tibetan, English transliteration, and English translation, published by Riwoche Society [see below], edited and produced a further six books of commentary in English, and also made some large Tibetan and Tibetan-Sanskrit prayer flags.

Other Projects

Other projects included Canadian Speedway Racing Association/CMA motorcycle racing 1976–79, overland trek through south-central Tibet 1991, created and maintained the Cornish language internet lexicon 1998–2009, created an online gallery of painted book illustrations by Sybil Tawse 2021, completed Duolingo Welsh 2023.

Books published by Paul James Davies under the imprint of Basilike

• John Lehmann, The Reader at Night 1974. Poetry. 250 copies hand-printed and hand-bound, signed by the author.
• Jack Lindsay, Faces & Places 1974. Poetry. 350 copies, hand-set. 75 copies signed by the author.
• Roger Marx, J.-K. Huysmans 1974. Essay. 215 copies hand-printed and hand-sewn.
• Lascelles Abercrombie, A Personal Note 1975. Essay. 125 copies hand-sewn.
• Jeff Nuttall The Anatomy of My Father's Corpse 1975. Eulogy. 675 copies.
• Jeff Nuttall, The House Party 1975. Novel. 215 copies, hand-bound in folding wraps.
• Lascelles Abercrombie, A Tower in Italy 1976. Play. 175 copies, hand-sewn.

Fiction titles by Paul Davies

• Oblique Litanies: Nine Conversations and an Afterthought. Short stories. ECW Press, 1992
• Exactly 12¢ and other convictions. Memoir. ECW Press, 1994
• The Wreck of the Apollo. Short story. ECW Press, 1994
• Dropping the Chase: The Thirteen Enigmas of the Goddess annotated with Thirteen Stories and a Complaint. Short story. ECW Press, 1995
• Grace: A Story. Novella. ECW Press, 1996
• Gelignite Jack. Story suite. Véhicule Press, 1996
• Joe Ironstone: A Drama for Radio. Play. ECW Press, 1997
• A Dialogue for Five Voices. Dramatic dialogue. ECW Press, 1997
• The Truth. Novel. Insomniac Press, 1999
• Some Sunny Day. Novella. Insomniac Press, 2005
• You Can't Be Gone. Novel (reissue of Pig Iron, Vehicule, 1997). Basilike, 2020
• Dialogues and Conversations. Collected short fiction. Basilike, 2020

Critical Reception

Davies' fiction was generally well reviewed.

Davies read in the Harbourfront Reading Series, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, 5 March 1997.

Grace: A Story had a college course adoption at The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, Prof. Philip W. Leon, 1997-98.

Davies appears in Who's Who in Canadian Literature 1997-1998.

"The title of this novella [Some Sunny Day] comes from 'We'll Meet Again,' a melancholy WWII song that promises that two lovers will reunite, even when both of them know that death is more likely. The book is about finding the promise of reunion fulfilled, not in this life, but in the next, or perhaps the next after that. The book is a series of vignettes — some almost short-story length, some only a few paragraphs. Each vignette introduces us to another life during another period in history. The vignettes move around geographically too; some take place in Tibet, some Ireland, some the United States and Canada. The real beauty of this book is that the author is able to pull off the voices of so many different women (and a few men) of many different ages and make them sound believable. There are a few false notes — the characters in the opening and closing sequences are somewhat flat and cliché — but overall, the different narrators make each of their stories intriguing. Although the publisher's website calls this book 'a death diary,' it is richer and more complex than that. Most of the stories are from the point of view of someone near or just after death and are a life review. Many speak about their wholes lives and some focus on a thwarted or lost love that came later in life. There are many religious references, including a very clever piece about the Greek gods in a sort of purgatory, but the dominant theme is derived more from Buddhism. The order (a reverse chronology until the end piece) and substance of the vignettes suggest that one person is being reborn again and again. I did not find this to be a true 'death diary,' especially since it ended on the positive note of renewal. It was more a diary of many lives, nearly all of them fascinating and well-worth at least one read, if not two." (Christine Hamm, Ph.D. Drew University, Madison NJ, Online Magazine 2005, on Some Sunny Day)

"The casual simplicity of style is an apt vehicle for a keen postmodern intelligence. This clean style and simply-rendered urban spirituality brings to mind Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen of a few years back. Davies manner also resembles a reigned-in Kurt Vonnegut. Davies as a fiction writer deserves a medal for restraint. Truth is, this is one engaging, unique, yet utterly readable book. I'll buy the next installment of Davies's life, fiction or not." (Bill Gaston, The Globe and Mail, 5 June 1999, on The Truth)

"From a well-traveled, much-published (nine books) Canadian writer, who has tried his hand at a bewildering number of careers, comes a candid, intelligent and splendidly droll little autobiographical novel. In 108 short chapters, or 'thoughts,' the nameless protagonist recounts his meandering life from birth in 1954 to middle-age, assuming the roles of, variously, a musician, book designer, motorcycle racer and mathematician. In his mid-20s, after abandoning his first successful incarnation as an antiquarian bookseller, he embarks on a quest to find meaning in his life, and in 1978 begins a friendship with cult figure Lobsang, an English plumber miraculously transformed into a self-styled Tibetan mystic. The narrator's subsequent travels include stops all over Canada, odysseys to the U.K. and the U.S. and an expedition near Baffin Bay in the High Arctic, but his culminating adventure is his quest for his great love, Gabrielle, a dancer in musical theater, which goes tantalizingly unrealized until the novel's bittersweet denouement. Davies's hero, a modern-day hybrid of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, jousts at scores of life's windmills, but he pokes fun at himself along the way, almost always avoiding the spiritual sponginess that is the hazard of the book's theme. In short, sharp sentences, Davies gives an ironic yet affectionate account of a nomadic, self-searching life. Readers will be left wondering what this New Age Renaissance man will come up with next." (U.S. Publishers Weekly, June 1999, on The Truth)

"This radio play evokes a more innocent time in the history of Canada's favourite sport. The attitudes of players, managers, fans, family, and the press are well articulated in this terse and effective drama. Joe and his teammates are depicted as thoughtful human beings, as athletes not yet bloated to the size of media superstars." (Canadian Book Review Annual 1998, on Joe Ironstone)

"This ingeniously structured book comprises three thematically linked stories .... Taken as a whole, the book is both an expression and celebration of storytelling and the endurance of the oral tradition. Readers who embrace Gelignite Jack on its own terms will be amply rewarded." (Canadian Book Review Annual 1997)

"Davies' volume is [small] and poetic. [S]traightforward and subtle written almost as an extended postcard from China, the sections are [annotations to] the enigmas of the Goddess figure, written in 10th-century Ireland. A strange and compelling short travelogue, there are levels and heights here I haven't quite figured out yet." (Ottawa XPress, 13 June 1996 on Dropping the Chase)

"Grace: A Story by Paul Davies is an engaging, interesting, and implausible combination of historical fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, with didactic elements from comparative mythology and elsewhere ... [A] real and particular mind and talent are at work in this book. The book is ambitious in its metaphysics. Paul Davies has a good feeling for the incongruities of juxtaposing ancient and modern times; in this he reminds me of E. Nesbit, Charles Williams, and C.S. Lewis. Davies wisely (more wisely than Milton) keeps all eminences except Xenophon off stage. It is odd for a book to join, as this does, such a good sense of humour and such sententiousness." (Books in Canada, May 1996)

"I applaud [Davies'] boldness [Grace and Dropping the Chase] display a remarkable refusal to be constrained by earlier assumptions about the plausible and the acceptable. They possess a haunting quality I suspect will be with me for a long time." (W.J. Keith, professor emeritus of English at University of Toronto)

"For a seven-week period in 1991, Paul Davies and a group of fellow travelers journeyed through south-central Tibet. That trek was the inspiration for these stories, which are presented as annotations to the 13 enigmas of the Goddess contained in the Book of Leacan. The stories seamlessly blend historical commentary with vivid evocations. [T]his beautifully produced book abounds with dry amiable humour.... The author of Oblique Litanies, The Wreck of the Apollo, and Exactly 12¢ and other convictions has in these elegant marvels of concision proven once again that less is more." (Canadian Book Review Annual 1996, on Dropping the Chase)

"Decidedly enigmatic but very intriguing ... offered confidently in a factual take-it-or-leave-it fashion that worked so far as I was concerned. Easily [Davies'] best yet." (W.J. Keith, professor emeritus of English at University of Toronto, on Gelignite Jack)

"Davies possesses a probing intelligence with insights and ideas." (Quill & Quire, on Gelignite Jack')

"[An] existential who-done-it stories that, in sum, carry Gelignite Jack's dominant narrative and collectively constitute one of the most ingenious compact pieces of detective fiction." (Books in Canada, October 1996)

"Certain to be a 'sleeper' hit." (Missing Jacket, Summer 1996, on Gelignite Jack')

"A journey from youthful dreams to adulthood and old age which gains power as it goes along." (Montreal Mirror, 29 August 1996, on Gelignite Jack)

"A journal account of a late 18th-century shipwreck, narrated by the ship's second officer. The book is especially well-designed and by the time you've finished reading it you've been simply but thoroughly satisfied." (The Toronto Star, on The Wreck of the Apollo)

"The text [of Exactly 12¢ and other convictions] deftly evokes the monumental significance of small things to children and youths, and the heady feeling of building an inner world within a newly discovered shared culture of like-minded people." (Paragraph, Fall 1995)

"Using ironic juxtaposition, Davies knits incidents with epiphanies. I nominate [Davies] for late night radio guru he always writes with a whimsical, indeed, lovable voice." (Canadian Book Review Annual, 1993 on Oblique Litanies)

"Books like [Oblique Litanies] are rare, and we should have more of them. Davies is a tangential conversationalist, and these pieces have many angles." (Geist, November 1992)

"The term Renaissance Man is often applied to those who dabble in just two or three different fields. But what else can you call someone who's formally studied music, higher mathematics, and graphic design and worked as a typesetter, technical writer, music marketeer, oil and gas industry consultant, antiquarian bookseller, cartoonist, and even computer programmer? Meet Paul Davies." (Quill & Quire, biographical profile, May 1989)

Tibetan language texts

Many transcribed from Umê script, all composed in modern Tibetan Uchen and transliterated to Library of Congress standard. Produced and published by Riwoche Society (2005 through 2015), with thirty-eight books completed. Translations from Tibetan into English were created by various Khenpos, a degree for higher Buddhist studies given in Tibetan Buddhism, for the various books.

• A Concise Recitation of the Preliminary Practices of the New Treasures of Dudjom [Ngondro]
• The Sadhana of Tröma Nagmo: The Sun of Primordial Wisdom [Chöd]
• A Short Practice of Tara
• Medicine Buddha Sadhana [Sangye Menla]
• The "Lotus Lattice" Field Accomplishment Practice Lineage Prayer called "Lotus Iron Hook"
• Ushnishavijaya's Dharani Accomplishment and Offering Ritual, Clearly Arranged, and Called "Stainless Jewel"
• Dark Blue Akshobya: The Ultimate and Permanent Vajra
• Chenrezig Meditation: For the Benefit of All Beings as Vast as the Skies
• Liturgies for the Dakini Tsok
• Pema Sangthig: The Sadhana of Immortal Life from The Secret Essence of the Lotus
• Shower of Blessings: A Guru Yoga based on the Seven Line Prayer
• Sadhanas of Avalokiteshvara Khorwa Dongtruk
• Sangye Won Sadhana and Tsok
• Vajrakilaya Sadhana
• A Liturgy of the Buddha: The Blessing Treasure of Mipham
• Aspiration Prayer from "Undertaking The Conduct"
• Aspiration Prayer of Maitreya
• Daily Clapping Practice of Shinghamukha
• Inspiration-Prayer for Deliverance from the Dangerous Pathway of the Bardo
• Meditation on the Four Immeasurables
• Mountain Sang Offering: The Cycle of the Heart Sadhana of the Knowledge Holders
• Offering Prayers
• Pureland Prayer
• Repelling Disharmony with The Heart Sutra
• Repelling Rite of Ushnishavijaya
• Teachings on the Six Bardos
• The Aspiration Of Sukavati: The Pure Realm of Great Bliss
• The Aspiration of the Vajradhatu Mandala Chokchu Düshi
• The Great Perfection Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra
• The Heart Sutra
• The King of Noble Prayers Aspiring to the Deeds of the Excellent
• The Lineage Supplication for Thigle Gyachen: The Most Secret Way to Accomplish the Guru
• The Offering of the Five Vessels
• The Root Verses of the Six Bardos
• The Stanzas of Offering Water from the Pure Vision: An Ocean of Blessings
• The Supplication of Calling with Longing
• Yeshe Tsogyal's Prayer to Guru Rinpoche as He Left Tibet
• Prayer to Chenrezig by Yeshe Tsogyal
• Aspiration Prayer for the Increase of the Glorious Taklung Doctrine
• Tranquility Meditation
• Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones
• The Sublime Discourse of the Greater Vehicle called Immeasurable Life and Pristine Awareness
• The Inexpressible Absolute Purification
• The Stainless King
• The Fourteen Root Transgressions
• The Eight Secondary Transgressions
• Lamp Offering Prayer
• The Brief Fulfillment Prayer