The Father, the Son & the Pyjama Wearing Spirit: Doha, State of Qatar, 26-27 April 2

There is something extraordinary about Cambridge philosophy student Gian Paolo Friedrich. From the strange visions that people have in his presence, to his uncanny ability to touch the hearts of total strangers, Gian Paolo is not like other people. Unnervingly enigmatic, he claims to be ‘newer’; to experience feelings that nobody else has ever felt before. Is he a superior being, or is he psychotic? Psychiatrist Joy Small is treating Gian Paolo, and diagnoses him with early-stage psychosis. But as the events around her become extraordinary, she starts to question this initial diagnosis and wonders if Gian Paolo actually does have some kind of divine power. The question of who he really is becomes an obsession for her. Until she finds the answer, she won’t know whether to publish the anti-Christian creed he claims will save mankind, or whether to bury his ideas quietly in a file. If he is a Homo superior, his deconstruction of Christianity is a revelation, but if he’s psychotic, her Catholic beliefs are safe. Through this novel the author presents his alternative philosophy on creation and the evolution of humankind. The possibility that Gian Paolo could be the second coming of Christ creates space for a series of taboo-shattering satires, such as the analogy between Gian Paolo’s relationship with his father and that of Man to God. The novel challenges the biblical vision of heaven on earth, as Gian Paolo reveals his wish that science would isolate the extraordinary elements of DNA that he believes he possesses and use them to engineer generations of super-beings, who will in turn make the world into paradise.