Photographer Monique Dykstra and I are just back from three days in the Gaspé! We took the train last night from Campbellton, New Brunswick and arrived in Montreal this morning just as the rest of the world was going to work!
We were in the Gaspé to work with Rose Roussy’s Grade Eight girls at New Carlisle High School. I was telling the girls that I love a Mavis Staples song called “I’ll Take You There” — and I told them that for me, one of a writer’s tasks is to take the reader someplace.
So, let me take you, just briefly, to New Carlisle. The town is located on Baie-de-Chaleur. It’s about a five-minute walk from just about anywhere in town to the bay. The air has a delicious briny smell. And when you get to the water, ahh… you feel a little overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. Though it was snowy yesterday morning, the wooden boardwalk was still open and I felt as if I had the whole bay to myself. Because New Carlisle is a small town, everybody knows everybody else. And everybody says “Good morning!” when you see them on the street.
But it turns out that fourteen-year-old girls in New Carlisle are pretty much like fourteen-year-old girls anyplace else. One of their main interests is romance. Even though they’re still quite young, many of these girls have already discovered that love can be complicated. So Monique D and I were impressed by these girls’ courage when they decided to focus their chapter in this year’s edition of Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live on their search for romantic love.
What I love about the topic is how it’s personal, but universal, too.
Together, the girls wrote a poem about their ideal romantic partner. We’re calling it, “When I Was a Little Girl.” A student named Chelsey came up with a beautiful Gaspé description to go inside the poem. She imagined a boyfriend who’d be “strong as the waves at the beach on a rough rainy day.” In that line, Chelsey TOOK US THERE!! Super work, Chelsey! A student named Kendra wrote a poem recalling her first kiss. Kendra TOOK US THERE too! “May I kiss you?” her boyfriend asked her — and Kendra recalls being pleased that he asked, since, “not all boys do.” Kate wrote a powerful story about jealousy; Cheyenne wrote a wonderful piece about her grande-mère and how she coped with romantic trouble; and Julia interviewed her mom and Lionel, her mom’s new boyfriend, to find out why they fell for each other, and what challenges they face in their relationship.
In addition to giving the girls a photography workshop, Monique D took their photo. Interestingly, she took 15 photos before she got the one she wanted. That’s a lesson that applies to writing, too. We writers need to re-work and re-work our writing until we get it as close to right as we can. Monique D also told the class, “Shoot from the heart!” That’s true for photos and writing both. One thing I know for sure: this group of girls at New Carlisle High School will be writing and shooting photographs that come from their hearts. And you know what else? They’re going to take all of us there!
