Quebec Roots

It is fitting that as we hang out at the Wabush Airport in Western Labrador, waiting for our flight back to Montreal, I reflect on the past few days in St. Paul’s River on the Lower North Shore, where Secondary IV and V students worked hard to produce texts and photographs that speak to their chosen theme for Quebec Roots: “Memories in Motion.”  I’m here with photographer Joel Silverstein, my own memories of the past 48 hours still rushing through my mind.

On Tuesday, we got down to work almost immediately with the students.  Since November we’d been trying to get to the community. Needless to say, they were waiting for us. I started right in on their theme, explaining to students that memories, particularly older ones, need to be coaxed out and effectively packaged for an audience of readers. I had them close their eyes and imagine an object, place or event in their life that has truly “moved” them or had a major impact. For about ten minutes, I let them wander through that terrain, remembering the colours, sounds and textures of the scene, calling up the feelings that it produced in them. What did the air smell like that day? What were you wearing? Who was there beside you? What were they telling you? And then, silently, they wrote. Amber wrote a moving piece about her first swing set; Shanelle about the untimely death of her grandmother. Savannah described her favourite rock, and Matthew, the summer day his grandfather taught him how to jig for fish.

As we went around the table sharing the written memories aloud, each struck a chord with at least one other person in the class, usually more. Most of the texts were so powerful, they only required minor tweaking. The students seemed to catch on: If a writer does it right, his or her personal story also tells the universal story. Don’t tell readers how the experience made you feel, show them with concrete detail. Paint the scene and then let readers draw their own conclusions. The right details will evoke happiness, sadness, loneliness.

The quilt of memories that they created in two days is authentic and powerful. I am super proud of everyone who contributed a piece.

Joel spent the rest of the time teaching them the language of photography and has left them with one final mission: complete the last of the photos. Turn the memories into pictures.

On Wednesday, Erika Monger at CFBS, the community radio station in Blanc Sablon (89.9 & 93.1 FM) interviewed Joel and me about the Quebec Roots project in general, and a couple of the students about their particular experience with it. Amber and Nathan joined us for the telephone interview, which took place after lunch in the teacher’s staff room. Amber mentioned her swing set story; Nathan talked about his work-in-progress, a text on his family’s big Sunday dinners. The one thing they have realized is that they are actively involved in the process of creating the regional history they will one day look back on.

Despite all the hard work, Joel and I had plenty of time to have fun, too. On Wednesday night, we took part in the much talked-about radio bingo game with our very accommodating hosts at the B & B (we didn’t win, but we all had a good laugh), and Paulette Willcott, one of the two teachers on the project, gave us the grand tour of the neighbouring town of Old Fort, where Jacques Cartier is said to have landed in 1534. The bed and breakfast where we stayed was run by the wonderful Vida and William Keats, whose kind hospitality, personally delivered lunches and delicious meals, including local cod, will remain forever lodged in our memory.  And how will we ever forget those chocolate-covered coconut balls and bakeapple tarts! Joel and I would also like to thank the following people for making the trip so special: Teachers Gail McDonald and Paulette Willcott and their hardworking group of senior secondary students, Lionel for being the best chauffeur in town, Principal Eileen Schofield for inviting us in to her school and Tanya Smith, Chevonne Thomas and Kimberly Buffitt for simplifying our lives with the technology. The last thank you is reserved for Elly.  She knows who she is.

It’s Valentine’s Day, so no surprise that I’m thinking about love — and writing (I’m always thinking about writing!!).

I was thinking how people seldom tell you the truth about love. They seldom tell you love is hard work, and that sometimes, they feel like giving up altogether on love! You’d certainly never read that on a Hallmark card, would you?

Yes, yes… it’s also true that love can transform us, make us better than we were before, and that love can make us grow in the most unexpected ways. But it’s not honest or fair to focus just on the “up side” of love.

The same is true for writing. And especially for RE-WRITING.

Those of us involved in this year’s Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live project are all hard at work now on re-writing. I’m sure the students who are working with me will be quick to tell you that the re-writing can be difficult and discouraging. Last week, photographer Monique Dykstra and I met — via video-conference — with our class at New Carlisle HIgh School in the Gaspé. Teacher Rose Roussy said some of the girls were pretty down when they read the comments I’d made about their writing. I told them how one of my friends, Montreal writer Elaine Kalman Naves, once told me how a writer needs to have both a thin skin and a thick skin. The thin skin is to be sensitive to the world around us; the thick skin is to be strong enough to handle criticism.

During that video-conference, I could actually see the girls in Mrs. Roussy’s class coming around… beginning to understand that re-writing, solving problems, is all just part of the writing process. Together, we had time to work on a group poem. It was about the things we wish we could say to someone we love. Cheyenne came up with the amazing beautiful line: “I’d tell you that my heart beats 24-7 for you.” Way to go, Cheyennne!

Yesterday, I was at FACE High School here in Montreal. There too, Kristen O’Sullivan’s students were struggling with their re-writes. Kristen had sent me a huge packet of material last week… but it lacked shape. It needed pruning — kind of like an overgrown tree! But guess what? The students did it! On their own, then together with Kristin, and then with me, they turned their material into something beautiful. In fact, I can’t wait for you to read it. Here’s one small preview. It’s a line from a poem by a student named Jyoti, in which she describes her music class: “Even the birds outside stop to listen to our music.”

So today, I want to wish you all a happy Valentine’s Day. I want to tell you that love and writing can sometimes be hard… but that’s okay. Look — and listen — for those birds. Let your hearts beat 24-7 for the person you love, but also for the creative work — the writing, the music, whatever…  — that brings you satisfaction!