This Sunday is Father’s Day so crank up the grill, grab some food, and BBQ your Dad a nice meal while he takes the day off to read a good book!

Nova Scotia writer Anna Quon is preparing for the release of her second novel, Low, published by LPG member Invisible Publishing. Her first novel, Migration Songs, was a big hit with us (as well as critics, it was nominated for the Dartmouth Book Award), so we were excited to catch up with Anna to learn more about Low in anticipation of its release on June 15th.

It's Aboriginal Awareness Week in Canada, a time to celebrate and recognize the cultures and contributions of Aboriginal peoples. However, you'll need far more than one short week to because our publishers have a diverse selection of literature by Aboriginal authors—poetry, fiction, drama and memoir—from all across the country. Our publishers also offer plenty of non-fiction books on Aboriginal history and culture, literary theory, rights and issues. Today, we wanted to celebrate Aboriginal Awareness week by highlighting a few new titles.  Check out our Pinterest board for even more recommendations. 

First introduced in 1992, the four-day week that follows the Victoria Day holiday is Aboriginal Awareness Week in Canada. The purpose of the Week is to celebrate “the cultures and contributions of Aboriginal peoples.” 

Today we're introducing a new (and hopefully regular!) feature on the LPG blog we're calling Writer's Block, where we'll go behind the scenes with some of the writers who have published with our member publishers. We're kicking off with Chad Pelley, author of Every Little Thing and Away from Everywhere, published by Breakwater Books. We asked him some random writerly questions about himself, snooped into where he likes to write, and asked him to get artistic with some advice for aspiring writers. Being the good sport he is, Chad came back with some fantastic responses so read on!

May is Asian Heritage Month, and a great opportunity to showcase some new literature from Asian- and South Asian-Canadian writers published by our members. To learn more about Asian Heritage Month and the various activities in your area, visit the Government of Canada's website.

Belinda's Rings
Corinna Chong
NeWest Press, 2013
 

Narrated by the proud and practical-minded teenager Grace (who prefers to go by the nickname "Gray"), Belinda's Rings is a novel about the painful business of being raised by adults who don't really know who they are. Young Gray assumes the role of caretaker when her mother leaves the family in search of crop circles and her stepdad's behaviour becomes increasingly indifferent and unpredictable. Gray's attempts at stoicism in the midst of family breakdown are both convincing and endearing. A fantastic debut novel set in Calgary from Corinna Chong.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. To help you out with some ideas of what to get a book-loving momma, we’ve put together a few suggestions depending on what type of books your mom loves to read.

 
Forget yard work. Here's what we think you should do this Sunday to celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo*.
 
1. Download the latest album, "Nuevos Caminos a Santiago" (New Roads to Santiago), from Café Con Pan on iTunes.
 
2. Mix up a pitcher of Ginger Lime Margaritas (hint: this recipe is also suitable for other Sundays).
 
3. Settle into a favourite chair, take a sip of your drink, push play on your iPod, and flip through Lotería Jarocha by Alec Dempster.
 

It’s the last day of April and the last day of our CoCoPoPro series has finally arrived. Sadface. It’s been a great month for all of us here at the LPG – not only have we had fun bringing you an interesting and eclectic mix of poetry but we’ve enjoyed reading it ourselves.

Week Four Round Up

We've been on an unadulterated poetry binge over the last month here at the LPG blog, and we hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as we have.

This last week we covered Quebec and the East Coast. We featured "light" sonnets in translation, a bluesy lament, a poem from a bovine narrator, missives between two poets, a poem about our mythic connection to dogs, a poem about the end(s) of the world, a lyrical ballad for remembering, and a poem about having endless pride in your lover.