Sophie Demers

 

Long time Aylmer resident, Michelle Mondoux’s short story, partially set in Aylmer, was selected for the short story collection Histoires d’Immigration put together by Les Éditions David. Mondoux’s story “Pas Sortie du Bois” chronicles the experiences of her close family friend’s, their love story and one character’s immigration to Aylmer during the second world war. The story is about a young British woman in the Women’s Land Army, Adelina, who meets Eddy, a Soldier stationed overseas from Aylmer.
Mondoux has been an active member of the Aylmer community for many years. She is passionate about history and heritage. Mondoux has organized historic tours of Old Aylmer, she is a former president of l’Auberge Symmes, and former president of l’Association du patrimoine d’Aylmer. Among her many achievements, Mondoux received the Heritage prize from the City of Gatineau in 2010, she was Aylmer citizen of the year in 1993, and has published many written works on Aylmer History and Heritage such as Les Grands moment d'Aylmer (1997) and Profil Biographique des Maires d’Aylmer (2001).
Les Éditions David organized a contest for writers to submit short stories about Immigration. Michelle Mondoux’s story is one of 40 that were selected. There are 20 different countries represented in the short story collection.
Les Éditions David is an Ottawa-based literary house who aim to contribute to the diversity of Franco-Canadian literature by publishing authors from Ontario and other Francophone communities in Canada.
Photo Caption: Michelle Mondoux with the draft of her story. The photos of Adelina and Eddy, the friends the author wrote about. Photo: Sophie Demers