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Welcome to the second episode of season two of the Literacy Quebec Podcast! On this week’s episode, we celebrate pride month and discuss the importance of self-representation for the LGBTQI2+ communities through stories and learning to build community space. Jaimie speaks with Chris DiRaddo, a writer and organizer of the Montreal queer reading series and book club, the Violet Hour. Gabrielle Thomas of Literacy Quebec updates us on what's been happening at LQ and the importance of our book giveaways!
In the show we mention the following:
The Violet Hour https://www.facebook.com/violethourreadingseries https://christopherdiraddo.com Literacy Quebec: literacyquebec.org Frontier College’s Launch of the National Research Report on Literacy and Essential Skills as a Poverty Reduction Strategy https://www.frontiercollege.ca/News/Blog/March-2019/Literacy-as-a-Poverty-Reduction-Strategy Homeless Hub's information regarding LGBTQI+ Youth and Poverty https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/population-specific/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-transsexual-queer Upcoming Events: Violet Hour's Events: June 29 - A Boy's Own Story: Violet Hour Book Club 12:30 PM at Never Apart https://www.facebook.com/events/289591288650930/ Aug 3 - The Clothesline Swing: Violet Hour Book Club 12:30 PM https://www.facebook.com/events/448873472337496/ Yamaska Literacy Council: July 1 - Canada Day in Cowansville. Yamaska Literacy Council is serving up cheer and beer! https://www.facebook.com/yamaska.council/ Every two weeks our hosts Jaimie Cudmore and Chris Shee from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for English-speakers in Quebec. Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us at admin@literacyquebec.org or call our office (514) 508-6805 or Toll-Free: 1-855-890-1587
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Last Friday, LQ's own Gabrielle Thomas and Sarah Conley attended a Roundtable on the modernization of the Official Languages Act. The roundtable is part of a tour being made by Canada's Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Melanie Joly. The goal is to take another look at the Act on its 50th birthday. An example of why this is necessary was given in the opening of the roundtable: when the Act was created in 1969, the internet did not even exist. The Act has come a long way in Canada's history, but now it is time to rethink how it can better serve our communities and meed the needs of modern Canadians. Gabrielle and Sarah were joined by many other Montreal community representatives. Unfortunately, Minister Melanie Joly was unable to attend. At LQ, we believe that Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) should be consulted on how the Act can be changed to better meet their needs. A lot has been done historically to help preserve Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec and we believe the same support should be shown to Anglophones living inside Quebec. English has not been an official language in Quebec since 1974. Given these circumstances, how may the Anglophone community continue to thrive and grow alongside our French-speaking counterparts? We are in the process of answering this important question. If you have thoughts on the matter, we would love to hear them - send us a message at events@literacyquebec.org AuthorSarah Conley is Literacy Quebec's Policy Intern.
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Every two weeks our hosts Chris Shee and Jaimie Cudmore from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for English-speakers in Quebec. Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us at admin@literacyquebec.org or call our office (514) 508-6805 or Toll-Free: 1-855-890-1587 On this week’s episode, we discuss ways to develop and support Family Literacy! As we start to update our Family Literacy Toolkit, we explore programs and activities that use stories, songs, movement, art, cooking, and more! Gabrielle Thomas from LQ talks about her experience with early-childhood learning through song and movement. The Mother Goose program is offered at many community centres, libraries and literacy groups across Quebec. Mother Goose Program Coordinator at the Montreal Children's Library, Desrean Macfarlane and Gabrielle teach us some songs! 
Work by Norma of Cara Carmina. See https://www.caracarmina.com/
We also get to hear from Norma, a children's book illustrator from Cara Carmina about her art and the alphabet cards she has created for parents and children to learn together. Learn about the age of the "wowers"! You can check out Norma's beautiful alphabet prints and workshops from her website.
Joanna from Literacy in Action talks about using a community-based approach to support family literacy. We hear about the ongoing Arts and Scraps and Books to Belly programs in the Estrie Region of Quebec. The episode ends with upcoming member events from across Quebec. We are still looking for donations, runners, and volunteers for the charity run in Montreal on April 27th! Contact Chris at admin@literacyquebec.org and donate by clicking here Episode Links Literacy Quebec Family Toolkit http://www.literacyquebec.org/resources.html Literacy in Action Events and Programs https://www.facebook.com/LiteracyInAction Cara Camina Illustrations & Alphabet Cards https://www.caracarmina.com/illustrations Mother Goose Program at the Montreal Children's Library Events Gaspésie Literacy Council (GLC) https://www.facebook.com/Gaspésie-Literacy-Council Quebec City Reading Council http://www.qcrc.org/events Storytelling Events: Friday, May 3: This Really Happened at Blue Met https://www.facebook.com/events/300888597525252/ , Thursday, May 9: Blooming Tales at the Wiggle Room https://wiggleroom.ca/e/blooming-tales-from-the-wiggle-room-may-9th/ Saturday, May 11: Confabulation Anniversary Show at the Centaur Theatre https://centaurtheatre.com/shows/confabulation-mtl-presents-get-it-together/ April 30-May 5: Violet Metropolis: LGBTQ writers at Blue Metropolis https://www.facebook.com/events/432188257558321/
Click the play button below to listen now!
Every two weeks our hosts Jaimie Cudmore and Chris Shee from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for English-speakers in Quebec. Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us at admin@literacyquebec.org or call our office (514) 508-6805 or Toll-Free: 1-855-890-1587
Happy Volunteers Week! On this week’s episode, we discuss the importance of Clear Writing and Plain Language for effective and accessible communication. We learn about the power of simplicity in our conversation with Wendy Seys, Executive Director at Yamaska Literacy Council. Many programs and services could not run without the dedication, time and the labour given by our hard-working volunteers. We want to send a big thank you to all of the volunteers! Literacy Quebec's Gabrielle Thomas talks about Volunteer Week April 7-13. We attend RECLAIM Literacy's Cabane à Sucre luncheon, where we chatted with Maureen Floen. Maureen received Literacy Quebec's the Freda Hudson Volunteer Award! Congrats! The episode ends with upcoming member events from across Quebec. We are still looking for donations, runners, and volunteers for the charity run in Montreal on April 27th! 
Episode Links
Yamaska Literacy Council https://yamaskaliteracy.ca/ Literacy in Action http://www.lia-estrie.org/ NWT Literacy Council's Resources on Plain Language https://www.nwtliteracy.ca/index.php/resources/plain-language RECLAIM Literacy http://www.reclaimliteracy.ca/ Literacy Quebec http://www.literacyquebec.org Events Gaspésie Literacy Council (GLC) https://www.facebook.com/Gaspésie-Literacy-Council Quebec City Reading Council http://www.qcrc.org/events Literacy Unlimited https://www.facebook.com/events/590947948047730/
Every two weeks our hosts Chris Shee and Jaimie Cudmore from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for English-speakers in Quebec.
Just in time for Adult Learner's Week! In this episode, we spoke to learners, lunchers, and a researcher about some of the obstacles and creative solutions to gaining different types of literacy skills. We had the chance to present the podcast at Reclaim Literacy's weekly Lunch and Learn. We discussed digital literacy and access to podcasts with Betty, Ruth and Sylvia. We also had the opportunity to chat and get advice from Jonathan and Lorenzo from CDC Vimont and the Learning Exchange in Laval. Paul Lalonde, a researcher from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, speaks with Jaimie in Ottawa about the findings of Frontier College's National report, "Literacy and Essential Skills as a Poverty Reduction Strategy." And we end the show with the many upcoming literacy events submitted by our member organisations. We are still looking for runners and volunteers for the charity run in Montreal on April 27th! Click the play button below to listen now! Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us at admin@literacyquebec.org or call our office Phone: (514) 508-6805 or Toll-Free: 1-855-890-1587 Episode Links Frontier College's Report https://www.frontiercollege.ca/ Social Research and Demonstration Corporation http://www.srdc.org/ RECLAIM Literacy http://www.reclaimliteracy.ca/ CDC Vimont http://swlaurier.virtuo.ca/en/Our_centres_25/0/2.html The Learning Exchange https://tleliteracy.com/ Event Links Gaspésie Literacy Council (GLC) https://www.facebook.com/Gaspésie-Literacy-Council Quebec City Reading Council http://www.qcrc.org/events Literacy Unlimited https://www.facebook.com/events/590947948047730/
Every two weeks our hosts Jaimie Cudmore and Chris Shee from Literacy Quebec explore topics around community building, lifelong learning and literacy for english-speakers in Quebec. This week's theme we highlight community-based Learning through stories and art, through the Verdun Stories Project.
Chris had the chance to chat with some of the organisers and contributors to the project at the launch of their first edition on March 2, 2019, in Verdun, Montreal. Also, we share the many upcoming literacy events submitted by our member organisations. We are still looking for runners and volunteers for the charity run in Montreal on April 27th. Listen to Episode 2 of the podcast directly here. Want to help out with the podcast? Have a story you want to share? Contact us from our website www.literacyquebec.org 
Event Links
Gaspésie Literacy Council (GLC) https://www.facebook.com/Gaspésie-Literacy-Council Quebec City Reading Council http://www.qcrc.org/events Literacy Unlimited https://www.facebook.com/events/590947948047730/ Verdun Stories Project and Suspicious Fish https://www.facebook.com/TheSuspiciousFish/ This is Concordia. Now: Storytelling https://www.facebook.com/events/843150046030376/
Welcome to the first episode of Literacy Quebec! A podcast for english-speaking, lifelong literacy learners in Quebec. Join podcast hosts and LQ's very own Chris Shee and Jaimie Cudmore as they explore the theme of "Defining Literacy" in the first episode. Literacy is more than just knowing how to read and write - it’s about being able to interact with the world around you to your fullest potential. We will have special guests, Margo Legault - Literacy Quebec, Joy Fyckes - Reclaim Literacy, and Rev. Brian Perron - Church of Epiphany. We also will share submissions from Ruth Thomas - South Shore Reading Council, Cheryl Henry-Leggo - Gaspesie Literacy Council, Wendy Seys - Yamaska Literacy Council, and Michele Gagnon - Western Quebec Literacy Council. The episode ends with announcements of upcoming literacy events in Quebec. We are working on our sound and editing! Thanks for being a part of this journey!
Listen to the podcast directly here or on any of the following platforms:
Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/literacy-quebec-podcast/id1455010036 Stitcher:https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/literacy-quebec-podcast Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/literacy-quebec-podcast Google Podcasts this link RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/literacy-quebec-podcast-WJzJ41 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3a9tW85ucZwzasvpRKEVPJ PocketCasts: https://pca.st/Es9X In the show we mention the following: Dawson Oral History Project, Literacy Quebec, Gaspésie Literacy Council, RECLAIM Literacy (Montreal), South Shore Reading Council, Western Quebec Literacy Council, Yamaska Literacy Council Upcoming Events: Help raise money as a runner or volunteer for Literacy Quebec's member organisations by taking part of the Scotia Bank marathon charity fundraiser! For more information email Chris at admin@literacyquebec.org and by checking out more info here. Mark your calendars because Episode 2 is already scheduled to launch March 14th!  Recently, our network celebrated the Jan. 27 Family Literacy Day holiday with playful activities and educational workshops. As Family Literacy Day entered its 20th anniversary this year, we were happy to be supporting another year of raised awareness and family literacy time. According to ABC Life Literacy, “by reading to children and engaging in fun literacy activities, parents are actively keeping their own skills sharp while at the same time strengthening the relationship between the family which, in turn, encourages lifelong learning”. We couldn’t agree more! Here are some of the highlights from our FLD celebrations: Literacy Quebec5202 Rue de Verdun, Verdun, Quebec The Literacy Quebec team tabled at the Montreal Children's Hospital Family Literacy Day event on Jan. 30. LQ distributed literacy resources and fun literacy loot bags to the kids. RECLAIM Literacy4322 Wellington, Verdun, Quebec RECLAIM was busy tabling at the Montreal Children's Hospital introducing their newest project ‘children’s books read on digital devices’ , something they feel will get more storytelling to more children. They also had the opportunity to showcase their adult education programs to members of the hospital staff, who can share the info with parents of the patients. Once again this year, Joy, RECLAIM's Executive Director and LQ's President, was up bright and early cooking up hundreds of alphabet pancakes to celebrate Family Literacy Day! This year, after serving over 70 children at Verdun Elementary Breakfast Club, she made her way over to the CCS Little Learners group to serve up yummy letters to the children and their parents. Literacy in Action7 Connolly Street, Lennoxville, Quebec  The busy Family Literacy week itinerary at Literacy in Action  Cozy Storytelling Night Snapshot  Arts and Scraps Snapshot Gaspésie Literacy Council28 Saint-Patrick Ave, Gaspé, Quebec GLC marked the day at an event in New Carlisle with the organization Family Ties. The Learning Exchange2100 des Laurentides Vimont, Laval, Quebec .The Learning Exchange held some Family Literacy activities within the community to promote families reading, writing, learning and web surfing together. TLE will give away Writing Kit information cards and new Children’s Books from Scholastic. In addition, TLE will set up a table at CDC Vimont’s cafeteria to give away books donated to TLE. Check out their full list of FLD activities on their site here. Recently, they also introduced their 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative which has the goal of...you guessed it - encouraging your toddler to read 1000 books with you before Kindergarten! Check out more info here.  Western Quebec Literacy Council106 Front Street, Campbell's Bay, Quebec WQLC held a fun and entertaining event for the whole family! They invited members of the public to bring a book to exchange for another at their book swap table. Activities at the table also included: Design and make your own personalized bookmark, Create a greeting card for friend, family or upcoming holiday, Playing card games, Help write the lyrics for a song and even a sing along! The day was packed with literacy fun for the whole family.  Quebec City Reading Council3005 rue William Stuart, Office #202, Québec City, Quebec For Family Literacy Day, Quebec City Reading Council posted a range of free and simple activities each day to help parents with ideas on how to promote learning at home. As they say on their facebook page, taking time every day to read or do a learning activity is crucial to a child’s development, improves a child’s literacy skills and can help parents improve their skills. Plus, it’s a great way to have fun with the entire family! Check out their full posts + expert FLD tips on their facebook page here Those are just some of the initiatives our members created for this year's Family Literacy Day. Stay tuned on all of our websites to keep updated on the events we have year-round. We are already looking forward to next January!
In the West-Island of Montreal, outrage recently broke out over the local library. As part of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro Library's $24.4-million library renovation project, they decided to build a drive-thru book drop off/return slot. This would mainly serve parents who have to leave their children in idling cars while returning books or elderly citizens who must find parking in order to simply return their books.  Perrefonds-Roxboro will have a state-of-the-art library by the end of 2018 (Design Montreal) A local councillor has opposed the idea, saying it’s “an aberration”. Christine Gosselin says, "Culture prides itself on being the fourth pillar of sustainable development, so we wonder how, in 2018, we can integrate a drive-thru return service into a library." She is afraid that a change of this nature will discourage people from entering the space. I agree, change is often uncomfortable. However, I believe that libraries are the spaces most equipped to accommodate change. In fact, they have always changed and evolved to accommodate us. Libraries and librarians are our greatest custodians. When we borrow books, we borrow their beauty. For a moment, the stories, the words on the page are ours. They provide us a temporary sanctuary for free and ask nothing in return except that we give the people after us the same chance - this is the art of borrowing. When we return the books, we keep the lessons they teach us. The knowledge stays with us and the library remains as we return again and again. When Coun. Gosselin expresses doubt about change in her local library, she underestimates the resilience of these institutions and their sheer staying power. Libraries are made to bend just like the books they contain. I mean, have you seen some of the older books in libraries? Pages are ripped and filled with writing. Margins are packed with amateur annotations and their spines are held together by what seem to be some sort of divine miracle...Yet, they remain. In 2014, Ursula LeGuin spoke to this and gave a speech about the power of writing. Books aren’t just commodities; the profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words. In a world where hope seems at times, elusive, libraries remind us that change is always possible. In a world where systems seem inescapable, libraries remind us that change is possible. In a world that occasionally forgets about the power of imagination, libraries remind us of our possibility. In a world where trust is rare, libraries remind us that we can trust them to stay. And that’s what we keep with us even after everything is returned.
 Moments of the burning process
For Richard Bean, a magnifying glass is his paintbrush and sunlight is his palette. Mr. Bean is an artist in Verdun who draws in a way you’ve probably never imagined. He uses sunlight to burn his drawings into wood pieces with a magnifying glass.
An average piece takes him approximately eight 7-8 hour days to create. We were lucky to watch him “burn†one day. Sitting on a park bench, with his sunglasses on, he focuses the magnifying glass on a spot in the wood and gets the light to catch it just right. He moves the glass carefully to draw a line and line after line, he creates picture after incredible picture. Richard Bean is truly an original artist. Yet, he draws inspiration from Verdun. As he walks though the streets and looks up toward the trees, he sees the shapes and outlines of his next drawings. Mr. Bean’s art is also inspired by his own ideas of what he would like to see around him. “When I draw, I’m taking something from the back of my mind that I want to see in front of meâ€. By virtue of bringing his ideas to life, we get to watch him draw the world around us. His art is a new lens we can view Verdun through. ​Mr. Bean has been making art for over 50 years and doesn’t intend on stopping any time soon. “When people ask me what kind of art I do, I just reply, “I do art - Any artâ€â€¦just leave me a nail and I’ll scratch a drawing in the wallâ€. In reality, he doesn’t need much more than his magnifying glass to create something beautiful. Even the sun watches in awe and shines more brightly when he’s working.
This is an excerpt from The Verdun Stories Project set to be jointly published by Suspicious Fish and Literacy Quebec in February 2019.
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