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Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour is perhaps the most anticipated comic of the year. The sixth and final volume in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s beloved series hits bookstores on Tuesday. For the uninitiated, the series follows a year-in-the-life of 24-year-old Toronto slacker and wannabe rock star Scott Pilgrim, as he quests to win the heart of Ramona Flowers. To do so, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends, including final boss Gideon Graves.
Mark Medley/The National Post

June is National GLBT Book Month. This designation is in honour of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender books which have had to stay underground and unrecognized for so many years. Celebrate the differences amongst us and some fine writing as well with these award winning books.

I spoke with Sharon McCartney about her recently published collection of poetry For and Against. She read three poems from the book, we discussed the duality of the title and listened to her tea carafe serenade us in the kitchen. Click through to find the podcast.

Just seeing the different creative approaches that people brought to their work. It was very motivating to read all the stories and know that people all over were writing fiction and trying to do it as well as they could. And just because they could, and liked doing it. It obviously wasn’t about the money or pushing “product” or being part of a publicity machine. It was all very encouraging and liberating. What I’d always thought literature should be.

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

I think I was ready to write myself once I realized that just about anybody can do it. It’s also a pretty convenient and independent way to create. Lori Lansens told me she switched to writing novels from screenwriting because she got to be the writer, director, set designer—everything. And the budget allowed her to do anything. She said she’d never adapt one of her novels because she knows she’d immediately have to cut characters and scenes.

Stephen Clare recently spoke with McCluskey about her latest work, Going Fast; a punchy, uproarious romp of a novel about the larger-than-life Halifax boxing world –where spotty turf is defended with klutzy bravado down to the final, un-predictable ten-count.