The blue sand of the desertthe eighth book by Gatineau author Jacques Michaud, will be launched this Sunday, December 1 at 2 p.m., at the Maison du Citoyen (Salle Gatineau).
Originally from Abitibi – a region to which he devoted two novels, The land that does not begin (1982) et Marie-Clarisse (1993) – adopted Gatineau Jacques Michaud was one of the co-founders of Vents d’Ouest, a publishing house now dormant since the death of its most important pillar, Michel Lavoie, in 2020 .
The second publication is Frédo’s lobster hunt, autistica children’s album by Julie-Anne Codaire and illustrated by Léa Indelicato; it follows In the head of Frédo, autisticwhich the two co-authors published in April 2023.
Julie-Anne Codaire, herself “proud mother of a young autistic man with an intellectual disability” – created this series putting her son at the forefront in order, she says, to raise awareness among young readers about “the difference”.
The second volume of the adventures of Frédo, “adolescent with the heart of a child”, will be launched at the agora of the Guy Sanche Library (855, boulevard de la Gappe), this Sunday, December 1 at 11 a.m.
The author will take the opportunity to read this story, in which Frédo, who loves lobster, finds himself on vacation in Gaspésie with his family.
After this reading, the children will be invited to participate in a lobster hunt.
“Beautiful surprises await those present,” promises the Val-Gatineau publisher, recalling that the book contains educational sheets on autism (they can also be found on the La Note Verte website, just like those accompanying the first volume), and that two dollars per work sold is donated to the Véro et Louis Foundation.
In addition to her activities as an author, Julie-Anne Codaire is a senior communications advisor. She had previously published the collection of testimonies Meeting points: parents of different children talk about each other.
The blue sand of the desert is part of the collection Landscapes from La Note Verte (Fredo, autistic is part of the collection Gaulis).
«Of the desert, I had only known what others said. One name, two syllables and a lot of mystery. Who can access the infinity of the sky, who can cross what makes up the essence of water, who can penetrate what defines the matter of sand? I only have words to help me understand what escapes me», writes Jacques Michaud, in the introduction to his travelogue The blue sand of the desert.
Three publications in one month
These two publications follow the release of Garden demonologythe very first collection of poems signed by Gatineau resident David Galvaude. The tone of the poems oscillates between fantastic and ultra-realism.
Its launch took place at the La Dérive brewery in Gatineau on October 27.
This title expanded the Joual Vert collection, dedicated to poetry (which also included Alexandre Deschênes and Myriam Legault-Beauregard).
The president of La Note verte, Madeleine Lefebvre, and the author David Galvaude. (Etienne Ranger/Le Droit)
We mention it here in order to demonstrate the current dynamism of the publisher, which has become one of the last “approved” publishing houses in the Outaouais region, alongside the very discreet Gatineau publisher Exit, and of Vents d’Ouest… which has not given any recent sign of resuming its activities.
Let us also mention that La Note Verte – which is also a music school – inherited $30,000 in February 2024 in order to present the second edition of the Camatose Festival, “a poetic and musical event based on an exchange between artists from the Outaouais and Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
This boost came from Outaouais Territorial Partnership Programfunded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), Culture Outaouais, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the City of Gatineau and the regional county municipalities (MRC) of Collines-de- Outaouais, Papineau, Pontiac, Vallée-de-la-Gatineau.
These funders had collectively distributed $300,000 to 10 artists and six arts organizations in the region.
