Smokii
Sumac
Smokii Sumac is a member of the Ktunaxa nation, PhD Candidate at Trent University, and faculty member at College of the Rockies. His debut poetry collection, you are enough: love poems for the end of the world, won an Indigenous Voices Award in published poetry in 2018. He has performed across the country at festivals including the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the Queer Arts Festival. Sumac currently lives in Kimberley, British Columbia, with his cat, Miss Magoo.
Videos
2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize finalist Smokii Sumac
Award History
2020 Finalist
Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging WritersJury Citation
"Smokii Sumac’s writing is like a big bear hug from your uncle or cousin. With precise analogies and rhythm that move the spirit, his poetic practice harkens to those who came before him and reference a cyclical narrative of Indigenous literature. Sumac provides an opening to access his most intimate parts and, in the process of witnessing his journey to self-love and love shared with other beings, the reader learns to accept themselves. Kin and constellations shoot across the page. Consent is made erotic. Intimate entanglements lead Sumac and the reader to self-discovery on The Land, in their bodies, and across digital territories as shapeshifters."
— 2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize Jury (Trevor Corkum, Lindsay Nixon, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha)
