Yet another woman who had never before attended a women-only event, expressed her delight at the new experience. "I felt very comfortable and relaxed at all times." Like several other women, she considered the discussion of feminism a momentary awkwardness that did not affect the rest of her experience at the workshop.

If we needed any reminders about the challenges faced when bringing together women who are strangers to each other, who have different assumptions, different expectations, different experiences, we were set straight by totally opposite reactions to the setting.

the food was wonderful/the food was not good for me at all
the space was warm and inviting/the space was cold and alienating

In the end, we came together as a group of women who worked across the country in literacy programs with many different mandates and philosophical perspectives. We came together with a common interest: to find out what happens when we plan, implement, and document woman-positive activities in literacy programs. Although our personal, professional, and political lives were clearly very diverse, most of us expressed our optimism and curiosity about the next 12 months.

Back row: Gail Lanoie, Donna Lynn McNulty, Karen Bergman-IlInik, Nicole Jessop, Mary Snow, Debbie Heagy, Robin Silverman Allcorn, Kate Nonesuch, Jenny Horsman, Evelyn Battell, Michele Kuhlmann. Middle row: Mary Ann Tierney, Paula Davies, Diane Eastman, Mary Anne Ellul, Anne Moore, Vicki Noonan, LaVera Schiele Front row: Monique Beaulieu, Frances Ennis, Shirley Hickey, Amele Zewge, Tannis Atkinson, Betty-Ann Lloyd, Selma Karetak.