Happy Canada Day, Quill fans! We hope you’re beating the heat and doing your patriotic duty by relaxing with a great book.

On second thought, maybe a bit too relaxed. Yeah, definitely too relaxed.

The summer fun is in full swing here at PQL. We’ve been posting photos like mad in order to document the fantastic events going on around the country—and even abroad. Check out our gallery of images from George Walker’s exhibition of The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson at the Art Gallery of Sudbury. Tom Smart’s behind-the-scenes photos document the event, from laying out and hanging the pieces to schmoozing at the opening reception. We’re also featuring Alec Dempster’s trip to Mexico to launch Loteria Jarocha at ¡Que viva el son! in Veracruz. Fun, festive, and very colourful! Finally, check out a graphical companion to Leon Rooke’s The April Poems, featuring photos, reviews, and some snippets from the book.

What’s Happening This month?

At PQL.

At long last, the wait is over! Laurie Lewis’ much-anticipated follow up to Little Comrades, Love, and All That Jazz, is slated for release this month. We can’t wait! If you’re equally excited, refresh your memory of Little Comrades with this review, featured by Geist Magazine.

In Toronto.

George A. Walker will be attending the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, the largest outdoor art exhibition in North America. George has participated in the event for many years, and has been known to demonstrate letterpress printing on his very own press. Visit booth 94 in the white section to visit George and chat about his work.

When: Friday, July 5, 2013 – Sunday, July 7, 2013
Where: Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON
Time: Friday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

In the World.

It’s Canada Day–who can forget this most patriotic of Canadian holidays? A day of backyard BBQs, fireworks and congenial company sounds like a plan.

It doesn’t get much more Canadian than this. Except, you know, maybe if there was a hockey player stopping at the Timmy’s on the corner or something.

Did you know that many other countries celebrate Independence Day this month as well? There must be something about the heat of summer that makes us celebrate our pride in nationhood.

From the Intern’s Corner.

I sometimes wonder where the time goes. The pace of the summer season seems to slow a bit in the book biz, and so far it’s been a time to catch up and do some updates here and there. Perhaps running a digital sales campaign or two. A lot of liaising, it seems, with authors and various other industry folk. Somehow the summer slips by so fast, it’s easy to forget it’s time to start planning for the Fall 2013 season.

Already.

Armed with a preliminary list, it’s time to turn my attention to our upcoming titles and get cooking, metaphorically speaking. Looking forward to planning some excellent events for all you Quill fans in the coming months.

OK, I’ll admit that my cooking tends to be more of a mysterious and baffling alchemical experiment than anything. On the other hand, I do make a decent cupcake.