By Julia De Laurentiis Johnson

Tonight Pontiac Quarterly unleashes its second issue this year at The Drake Hotel (8pm). For those of you unfamiliar, PQ is a performance magazine where writers read their fiction, feature stories – even advice columns – on stage in front of a live audience. Coming around only four times a year (it’s right there in the title!), The Torontoist looks forward to it like our mom looks forward to gardening season.
This issue’s theme is Joy and will include readings from Nathaniel G. Moore, Sandra Alland, Chris Eaton, Emily Schultz (former This Magazine editor and author of Joyland–how apropos) and eye weekly’s Ed Keenan. You can also look forward to live art by Tyler Clark Burke, music stylings from Your Band Sucks and a handmade mix tape, no doubt full of joyful tunes. Proceedings will go to the Toronto International Poetry Centre; a worthy cause, as poets cannot live on canned beans and Leaves of Grass alone. For $10 (or if you are an aforementioned penniless scribe, it can be PWYC) you can check out the self-proclaimed “hands-free magazine”, drink some Drake juice and help save poetry. I feel we can’t lose here.