Sometimes a poem

Sometimes (rarely) I write poetry, but I haven't had a poem published since I was in grade two (it was about wolves, it was pretty great)--until today! The new issue of Burner is out (burnermag.com), and it features a poem I wrote that is not about wolves.

All CanLit puns, some of the time!

I have found a new use for the Internet, and Twitter in particular--subjecting an imaginary audience to boozy CanLit puns!

The list so far (#CanLitBrewery) includes:

As For Me And My Hops
A Cask Conditioned Kindness
Such A Lagered Journey
Ale Of Green Gables
The Stout Angel

How much cornier will this joke get? Only time will tell.
Or, you know, you could just follow me on Twitter (@sutherlandsuz) or whatever.

Stop Talking

I'm going to be performing (you know, reading out loud) tonight at STOPTALKING7 at the White House--an artists studio in Kensington.

The bill is stacked with some fantastic folks, including my girl Marisa Hoicka, who will in no way be performing a Whitney Houston tribute (seriously).

Event information can be found on the Facebook. You should come!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday Party

I'm enjoying a nice lazy day, filled to the brim with books. I've been reading Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and am excited to dive into the haul I brought home from the River Trading Co. yesterday: Dora Borealis by Daccia Bloomfield, Three Fates of Henrik Normark by Christopher Meades and Ground Works: Avant-Garde for Thee edited by Christian Bök.

And don't forget about the triumphant return of the Brockton Writers Series, this Wednesday, February 1 at St. Anne's Church. I'm going to be reading from my novel, due out next year with Sumach Press (that's still so much fun to say!), alongside some terrifically talented other folks! Facebook event thinger is HERE.

Book! Book! Book!

My best-ever-holy-cow news can now be made officially official on the Internet! Sumach Press, an imprint of the all-new, all-1978 by Daniel Jones-publishing Three O'Clock Press, is going to be publishing my first book, a young adult novel tentatively titled When We Were Good, in spring 2013!

The book is a coming of age story set in Toronto, and is a love letter in equal parts to CanLit, punk rock and the city itself.

I am far too stoked for my own good.

Also, don't forget to come party with the gang from Dragnet Magazine and me this Saturday at the Academy of the Impossible. It's going to be a real swell time. Facebooky details are here: https://www.facebook.com/events/171376899629900/

Reading the New Year

I'm going to be reading at two fabulous events in the next couple of months!

The first is the launch party for Dragnet Magazine's fourth issue, in which I've got a little story called "Cat: A List" about cats and pizza pies. It looks to be a swell party--come hang out!

And then! Come ring in the shortest, slushiest month of the year with the return of the Brockton Writers Series, in fine company with Koom Kankesan, Maria Meindl and Jeffrey Round.

In other real big news, I'm leaving my post at Book City, where I've been working for the past three and a half years. I'm sorry to be leaving such a wonderful store, but I'll be taking on an editorial internship at Doubleday Canada, which I am very excited about.

And, in less real big news, I'm now on Twitter. Get at me here: http://twitter.com/sutherlandsuz

CanCon Can

Reading Writing Gordon Lightfoot by Dave Bidini, and loving it, hard Canadian style.

Also, here's a re-post from the always fabulous Farzana Doctor, originally adapted from a post from Steve Pitt:

This Holiday Season, Give a Canadian Book

When you give a Canadian book as a holiday gift, you give a gift to all of Canada.

Have you noticed lately that most of the holiday gifts filling up Canadian store shelves these days are not made in Canada? Even gifts bearing the most recognizable Canadian symbols are rarely made in Canada any longer.

One exception is Canadian books. Canadian books are written by Canadians for Canadians. Behind every Canadian writer is a Made in Canada team of editors, graphic designers, lay-out artists, publicists, printers, warehouse staff, delivery drivers and book sellers. Every year the Canadian book industry pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the Canadian economy which creates jobs and pays taxes.

Canadian books also offer unbelievable choice. From Romance to Home Renos, Humour to Who-dunnits, Canadian books are second to none anywhere in the world. No matter what the age, gender or personal interests are of all the people on your gift list, there is a perfect Canadian book for each of them.

Finally, Canadian books are about Canadians like you. They are written about places you know, people you have heard of and things that matter to you.

When you are shopping for holiday gifts this year please consider giving a gift that is unique and truly Canadian. It is a gift that creates and keeps jobs in Canada.

Give a Canadian book!