Some writers rebuke the media for misrepresenting their experience. In her Letter, "Dear Sir," Ruth comments on the insensitivity of a CBC television interviewer on the evening Journal:

The interviewer asked about the subject of literacy. There were two Adult Literacy teachers talking, and I was so interested in it. The newsman said, “Sorry, I don't have time to put the number on TV. People can look it up in the phone book.” How can you look it up in the phone book if you cannot read or spell?

The descriptions of peoples' working lives, told so honestly and simply, are piercing. One gets a sense of a lifetime of thoughts distilled to a few clear paragraphs. Leslie Kish talks about the realities of his life as a longshoreman:

Because I can never be sure of getting work five days in a row, my life is very chaotic. When my day job finishes, instead of taking a chance on getting a job the next day, I will try to get on the graveyard shift which is dispatched as the next day's work. If I am "lucky," I will be at work again at 1 :00 a.m. for another shift which finished at 8:00 a.m.

The stories tell why some of the new Canadians chose or had to leave the countries of their first language, and of the joy the writers take in their newly developed skills. Voices is a very worthy publication that should reach all new readers and writers in Canada. I would encourage any programs, tutors, teachers and learners working to overcome illiteracy to subscribe.

For editorial or subscription information write to: Voices, 14525 110A Ave, Surrey, British Columbia V3R 2B4.

Janice Andreae, [untitled] 1986, ink on paper