Happy September, Quill fans!

Well folks, the Fall 2014 book season is in full swing. We bet that you’re positively drowning in a deluge of new releases all clamouring for attention.

*Sigh* Isn’t it wonderful?

As your to-read pile grows to Titanic proportions, don’t forget to check out our own fall offerings, conveniently listed on our home page. We’ll be keeping you up-to-date with new releases via our monthly newsletter, so if you’re after the latest news, sign up here.

If the deluge of books could talk … “Pick me!” “No me!” “I’m a great read—I’ve got eight blurbs on my jacket to prove it!” “Don’t listen to him—he’s genre fiction.” “Look at my award badge” “Oh come off it, you were longlisted!” … and so on.

What’s happening this month …

 At PQL.

Omigosh you guys, it’s so exciting!

Fall 2014 new releases are rolling of the press, and they. Are. Awesome. We can’t wait to share with you Marika Deliyannides’ debut novel, Bitter Lake, particularly as we haven’t done a novel for a while. (Worth the wait? You bet.) And fans of George A. Walker’s work will be stoked to hear that The Wordless Leonard Cohen Songbook will be on sale in a few short weeks. (It may be his best yet—the detail, guys, the detail!) And to plop the cherry atop this stupendous sundae, we’ve got three fantastic new titles waiting in the wings for the next few months.

In NYC.

If you happen to find yourself in New York City, stop by the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to hear Niki Koulouris read from her book, The sea with no one in it. Niki will be taking part in a sea-themed poetry event called “Ocean of Poets” along with Betsy Andrews and Jen Colemen on September 11.

In Toronto.

If NYC is a bit too far afield, check out Niki at the 100 Thousand Poets for Change event in Toronto. Stop by the Black Swan Tavern on the Danforth on September 27th. The reading is part of the Global Event Day intended to promote peace and call for social, environmental and political change.

In Barrie.

Barrie residents are up for a special treat this September 27^th. Barrie Poet Laureate and PQL author Bruce Meyer will be at the MacLaren Art Centre to read from his books The Seasons and Testing the Elements.

As a special bonus, The Porcupine’s Quill’s resident publisher and design guru Tim Inskter will be on hand to talk about the role of design in publishing. You won’t want to miss this!

Across Canada.

Fans of P.K. Page (we certainly are!) will enjoy The Muted Note, a collection of songs and dances inspired by the poetry of P.K. Page. The show will be travelling across Canada this fall, so check out one of the 40 performances coming to a town near you.

Around the World.

International Literacy Day takes place on September 8. We can’t think of a better reason to sit down with a child and delight in the written word. Or if none of those are handy (the children, not the words), treat yourself to a blissful cuppa and an engaging tome.

September 21 is World Gratitude Day. To get a jump on the big day, we would just like to take a moment to tell you all how very grateful we our for your support. Quill fans forever!

And now, my personal favourite: September 28 is Ask a Stupid Question Day. I am FULL of stupid questions. Finally, an excuse to use them!

From the porcupette’s corner

Turns out, you can teach an old porcupette new tricks. I’ve been “copy counting” for the Spring 2015 list, which basically means figuring out how many pages the printed books will be based on the length of the manuscripts. This is easier said than done. Line length, page size and margins are all factors in determining page count, and that’s not even mentioning the number of signatures. Perhaps not surprisingly, I find this kind of anal retentive work kind of fun and sort of therapeutic.

Is it therapeutic or do I need therapy? Hm. That’s a toughie.

In other news, I am knee deep in Spring 2015 manuscripts. Spoiler alert: we have some mind-blowing poetry coming your way. I’m not usually one given to spontaneous fits of emotion when reading, but one of our books actually made me cry like a baby. Can’t wait to share them with you all in the coming weeks.

Until next time,

Steph