Smokii Sumac facts for kids
Smokii Sumac is a Ktunaxa poet. He is also a man who identifies as transmasculine. His first book of poems, you are enough: love poems for the end of the world, came out in 2018. It was published by Kegedonce Press.
Before it was published, the book's early version was called "#haikuaday". It won the first-ever Indigenous Voices Award for Unpublished English Poetry. Later, the published book won the 2019 Indigenous Voices Award for English Poetry.
Growing Up and Learning
Sumac grew up in Invermere, British Columbia. He went to David Thompson Secondary School. He says that the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2017 made him want to start writing poetry.
He used to be a student working on his PhD in Indigenous Studies at Trent University. There, he studied "coming home" stories. These stories were from the point of view of a Ktunaxa person who was adopted and also identifies as two-spirit.
His Writing Career
Smokii Sumac's poems have appeared in different magazines. These include Write Magazine, Electric City Magazine, and Canadian Literature.
His book, you are enough, received good reviews. Publications like Muskrat Magazine and Transmotion praised it. He has also performed his poetry at many events. These include the Queer Arts Festival in 2018 and PoetryNOW in 2019. In 2020, Sumac was a finalist for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize. This award is for new LGBTQ writers.
People often notice that Sumac's poetry is very direct and honest. A literary critic named James Mackay said that Sumac's work is like poetry shared on social media. He compared it to Instapoetry. Mackay explained that the hashtags in Sumac's poems help connect them. They make the poems part of a bigger conversation, not just single pieces.
About His Life
Besides writing, Sumac spends a lot of time helping Indigenous and LGBTQ communities. He is currently a Senior Manager for Education and Employment with the Ktunaxa Nation.
Sumac identifies as two-spirit and trans masculine. He also sees himself as both an "uncle and an auntie." He lives in two places: Peterborough, Ontario, and Ithaca, New York. He shares his home with his family and their dog.
