When Smokii Sumac published his 2018 collection you are enough: love poems for the end of the world (Kegedonce Press), he had no way of knowing that two years later we'd be facing a global pandemic, forcing us into a kind of stasis; localized to our homes, and committed to our social "bubbles" in a way that most of us have never experienced before. So, what does "love in the time of Covid19" look like? Inspired by one of the great writers of romance, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Smokii promises to get you thinking about all the kinds of love we can continue to cultivate in this time of social distancing and isolation. And what is a love poem without pining and longing? We'll have you writing love poems to the things you miss most, as well as the things that are saving your life (Beyonce on Netflix and Disney+, anyone?) in quarantine and beyond.

Smokii Sumac (Ktunaxa) is a poet and PhD Candidate in Indigenous Studies at Trent University, where his work centers on the question how do we come home? As an Indigenous adoptee, intergenerational residential school survivor, and two-spirit person, Smokii's lived experiences are deeply embedded into his art and research. His first poetry collection, you are enough: love poems for the end of the world, (Kegedonce Press, 2018) won an Indigenous Voices Award for published poetry, and Smokii has recently been named as a finalist for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize. Currently teaching at College of the Rockies in Cranbrook, BC, Smokii is extremely grateful to be living in ʔamaʔkis Ktunaxa (Ktunaxa territories), where he and his cat, Miss Magoo, have recently (and begrudgingly, on Magoo's part) added a new family member: a "big ole rez dog" named Kootenay Lou.

Due to COVID-19, all our events will be online on Zoom, but we are working hard to make our events as accessible as possible. We will provide ASL interpretation and live captioning (in English) for this event.

Should you have any questions or any accessibility need not listed here, please send us a message at access.qhm@mcgill.ca .