It’s usually a little jarring on November 1 when retailers start to put up their Christmas decorations. In some cases, the trappings of Halloween are still present when the Christmas garlands start to go up. As the Bay unveils its Christmas window display on Queen street, the rest of the world is still trying to pick the fake cobwebs out of their bushes. (In fact, a family just down the the street from me has defiantly left their Halloween decorations out front. The shrub outside their house is still covered in tangled blobs of cottony cobwebs.) If you in particular hate the early creep of Christmas, you really need to get with the program now because it’s December! It’s all fair game: Christmas music in the shopping malls, Salvation Army volunteers collecting coins, obnoxious Christmas displays in store windows … Christmas is practically here!
December is an exciting month at the Porcupine’s Quill. We’re wrapping up our Fall 2012 season, and have just finished printing and binding James Pollock’s You Are Here. You Are Here is a collection of essays by Pollock which examines the state of poetry in Canada. Pollock encourages Canadians to consider their poetry on an international scale and sensitively explores poets that have been overlooked in the past: Daryl Hine, Jeffrey Donaldson, Karen Solie, and Eric Ormsby. You will also be happy to hear that last month we printed Rosemary Kilbourn’s long-awaited visual retrospective, Out of the Wood. With this much anticipation, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of this beautiful book as soon as possible!
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What’s happening this month?
In Toronto. The Porcupine’s Quill will be attending the 28th annual Book Arts Fair at OCAD U. Every year, OCAD U invites book artists and book artisans to come to its Great Hall and hock their wares. Last year we were joined by George A Walker and Wesley Bates. At the show this weekend, you’re bound to meet interesting characters, and you’ll have the opportunity to buy some PQL books—just in time for Christmas. What’s not to like?
OCAD U 28th annual Book Arts Fair • OCAD U, 100 McCaul Street • December 1, 10am–5pm
Folding signatures of Rosemary Kilbourn's Out of the Wood at the shop in Erin.
From the inter’s corner.
December means grant applications, so this past month I’ve been busy writing all the good stuff I can think of about PQL. Not a difficult task at all, and fitting it all together just right can be a lot of fun too. But the December grant is only the beginning … there are many more grant applications to follow in the coming months….
I’ve also been looking for some fun things I can do for you guys. This month you can expect more giveaways from PQL—after all, it is the season of giving. Happy Holidays from everyone at the Porcupine’s Quill!!
An eighteenth-century engraving of father time, to get you in the Christmas spirit!
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