Ah, May. The month of emerging sunshine, budding flowers, temperate weather, sinus headaches and pollen-fuelled sneezing sprees. It’s also a time of spring events and even a new release at PQL.

If we take pleasure in the beauty of a rose ... it sure as heck doesn't mean we can't moan about the blasted pollen floating in the air.

We had a great inaugural event in the launch of Lotería Jarocha on April 24, and the Grimsby Wayzgoose was a lot of fun. Now, we’re geared up for many more great events, so strap in, take an anti-histamine and get ready to party PQL style.

What’s Happening This Month?

At PQL.

After a short delay, Thomas Gerry’s The Emblems of James Reaney: Magnetically Drawn is set to be released this month. The Emblems of James Reaney explores the Canadian poet, playwright and painter’s drawings, which allude to such disparate disciplines as alchemy, biblical mythology and Haitian voodoo.

The Emblems of James Reaney will launching later in the spring, alongside Jack Chambers’ Red and Green.

Haitian Voodoo and meaty literary analysis? I'm down for that!

In Quebec.

Beloved children’s author JonArno Lawson will be touring Quebec schools and libraries with Down in the Bottom of the Bottom of the Box May 6 – 11. JonArno will be taking part of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. Be sure to check out the Book Week website, which features a new interactive Google map displaying all of the locations of JonArno’s readings throughout the week.

Busy week for JonArno Lawson. Brave soul for visiting all those high schools, but we're sure he'll have them chuckling.

In Toronto.

The Porcupine’s Quill will be in Toronto on May 11 and 12 for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF). Watch for PQL’s George A Walker, author of The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson; Alec Dempster, author of Lotería Jarocha; Marta Chudolinska, author of Back+Forth; and Stefan Berg, author of Let That Bad Air Out, will all be in attendance.

When: May 11–12, 2013
Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St, Toronto, ON

For more information, visit the festival website.

In Halifax.

Nicole Dixon will be participating in a panel discussion at the Atlantic Book Awards. Nicole’s High-Water Mark was shortlisted for the award.

When: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Where: Keshen Goodman Library, 330 Lacewood Dr., Halifax, NS
Event Starts: 7:00 p.m.

For more information, visit the Atlantic Book Awards website.

In Western Canada.

Nicole Dixon will be joining the FICTIONistas national author tour, a unique reading series that promotes Canadian publishers and female authors. Nicole will promote her debut short story collection High-Water Mark.

You're travelling through a lot of open spaces, Nicole. We're not sure how that affects people long term.

For tour dates, check our Upcoming Events page. For even more information on the FICTIONistas tour, visit the FICTIONistas website.

In the World.

Don’t forget, Mother’s Day falls on May 12. Tell your mom you love her with some great PQL reads. We suggest High-Water Mark for a great steamy read, or The April Poems, which can be savoured as a whimsical, poignant, and loving collection of poems.

Victoria Day, or May 24 weekend is coming up. We hope you enjoy your time off!

From the Intern’s Corner.

April saw a lot of construction on the website. A lot. Some days it felt like I was working through a never-ending list of updates, reorganization, redesign and so on. But this Porcupette is happy to say that we’re nearing the end … for now. Be sure to check out our new Blog Index, perfect for interns and publishing students looking for an easy way to navigate pertinent blog posts. Also check out the newly redesigned Contact Info and About Us pages, which have been optimized to help you find the information you want faster. Finally, we’ve expanded our social media presence to include some awesome Pinterest boards. We’ve started a board for George A. Walker and we’ve got a few more in the planning stages.

Construction everywhere. We may not be chopping logs, but we sure are sweatin' it.

Stay tuned for even more website update, and as always, Happy Reading!

Stephanie