Writing workshops by and for L'Itinéraire vendors

As he entered the room, where the silence of the participants suggested a moment of introspection, Alain tried to be discreet. He failed. He dropped his coffee on the table, which sparked good-natured laughter that lightened the mood. His apologies, offered in several variations, blended with the general amusement. This small incident allowed the group to relax and break the ice. Everyone had gathered for a writing session, guided by vendor and writer Agathe Melançon’s expert advice. She was comfortably seated in her chair in front of the whiteboard, where a presentation prepared especially for the group was projected.

"You must not censor yourself; you have to let go. Sometimes, we put up barriers ourselves. I often hear people say, ‘I can’t write, I make too many spelling mistakes,’ or, ‘My sentences are poorly constructed, either too long or too short.’ It doesn’t matter! Structure or no structure, the important thing is to express yourself. So, let go," she explained to the group as an introduction. Alain was happy that his vision was good enough that day to allow him to write a few words on the blank page in front of him.

"For 15 minutes, you’re going to embellish a text starting with one of these three sentences: ‘I don’t know what to write’; ‘What do I start my text with?’; ‘I feel blocked in front of a blank page,’" she instructed. Once the timer started, each participant began to scribble words without overthinking. After a few time reminders from the facilitator—"You have five minutes left... two minutes... last minute"—heads looked up, and surprised, sometimes amused, glances were exchanged.

"You can share your text with the group... or not," Agathe said. "It’s entirely up to you." It was Alain who broke the silence. Under the silent attention of the rest of the group, he began to read his text, a little stressed: "I am in ecstasy with the century we live in. We have returned to our madness of destruction, degradation, and sabotage of the blue ball. It is unique in our solar system. Reflection. To reflect. The future is ours, hoping for a savior to come for all of us, to save our soul sickness. We’re stuck in our physical bodies. We have 24 hours: eight to work, eight to sleep, eight to have fun. Basic need: breathing. Amen. I wish humanity would help itself."

This sharing set the tone. Josée, Justine, Chantal, Anne-Marie, and Marianne then took turns reading their work.

The idea of offering collective writing workshops at L'Itinéraire came from Chantal Carrier, a teacher in socio-professional integration at the Centre de ressources éducatives et pédagogiques (CREP), who has been with the L'Itinéraire Group for two years.

At her invitation, Agathe presented her journey as an author during a class taught by a fellow teacher. At the end of her presentation, she led a writing workshop with the students present. "I immediately thought we should replicate this workshop, given how much the class appreciated it. Agathe has so many ideas in her head!" said Chantal, whose office is located within the L'Itinéraire premises. After this inspiring experience, Agathe decided that she could prepare and offer a workshop to "her gang" from the magazine with Chantal's support.

Agathe, a vendor and poet, will continue to lead writing workshops in the coming months. She hopes for even greater mobilization and participation, knowing that the first session was, according to participant feedback, a real success.