QUESTION OF FAITH
Writing a historical fiction novel about a central figure from the Bible sounds like a daunting task and one fraught with all kinds of potential for backlash. But for author Christos Tsiolkas, telling the epic story of St Paul in his new novel Damascus has simply been a fascinating exercise in research, and attempting to contrast his own experiences at the hands of religion and faith with a more even-handed perspective of what St Paul’s message really was.
“It wasn’t done on a whim,” the Melbourne author of The Slap and Barracuda says. “I spent five years writing this book and, as a historical novel, it had to be very research-heavy. I had to really immerse myself in it and make the reader feel that they are right there in the first century AD.”
Based around the gospels and letters of St Paul, and focusing on characters one and two generations from the death of Christ, as well as Paul (Saul) himself, Damascus explores the themes that have always obsessed Tsiolkas as a writer: class, religion, masculinity, patriarchy, colonisation, exile.
Words can have a powerful effect, as Tsiolkas knows very well. He says he essentially abandoned his family’s Greek Orthodox faith quite early when he realised how incompatible it was with his identity as gay.
“For a period in my late teens I would say I wasn’t very sympathetic towards Christianity,” he laughs. “But then for a period I replaced that faith with another, which was socialism/ communism. I came to realise how much damage those movements do as well, by thinking people in good conscience, simply trying to create what they thought was their heaven on Earth. The insight I gained from that was that these people aren’t evil. Even in the church all they really wanted was to find a way for me to be acceptable to their God.”
The inspiration for Damascus struck shortly after the death of Tsiolkas’ father. Tsiolkas found himself deep in discussion with his mother about the despair and misery she experienced when he revealed to her that he was homosexual.
“She talked to me of how her fears had led her close to taking her own life. As a migrant woman, she lived in a community where frank discussions of sex and sexuality were considered shameful. I asked her ‘how did you survive it?’ She told me how it was reading Paul’s letters in her Greek copy of the Bible that gave her both strength and understanding.”
While not a believer himself, Tsiolkas says Damascus represents his struggle to understand faith, and his own reconciliation with so much conflict that made him an outsider in the church.
“My hope is that people who are Christian will read it and, even if they don’t agree with it, understand I am taking their religion seriously. I hope that the questions of ethics and being good in the world resonate regardless of your faith or atheism.”
Christos Tsiolkas will appear in Hobart in conversation with Geordie Williamson at Fullers Bookshop, 131 Collins St, on Thursday, November 21, at 5.30pm. RSVP by calling 6234 3800 or visiting www.fullersbookshop.com.au
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin, is available now for $32.99