A maximum of 30 writers will occupy the Port Sydney Community Hall for 72 hours of unfettered creativity from July 11 to 14, vying for the Best Novel Award, which includes a viewing of the manuscript by a Canadian publishing house, as well as the Remington Award for the writer who raises the most money for adult literacy in Muskoka.

“We didn’t miss a single Marathon because of COVID,” says convenor KM Wehrstein, a full-time writer best known in Muskoka for the “Cottage Country Cuisine” culinary feature in Unique Muskoka magazine. “We’re just lucky that we have an event that translates well onto Zoom. The online Marathons were all on the usual weekend in mid-July. But everyone’s been wanting badly to get back in person, and now we’re very excited to be doing it.”

Wehrstein notes that the 2024 Marathon is actually a hybrid event, with online participation still welcome at the discount price set in 2020. “We didn’t want to leave out the new online friends we made from 2020 to 2023, who are as far away as Hawaii.”

Founded in 2002 by five Muskoka writers, the Marathon has raised an estimated $240,000 in total for adult literacy education. Its current beneficiary is YMCA Simcoe-Muskoka’s Huntsville-based literacy program, which is now also active in Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Parry Sound as well as Huntsville. Over the years, Marathon funds have been used for sustaining literacy, numeracy and computer skills classes, extending hours, expanding staff, and upgrading IT equipment necessary for the program.

In recent years they have been allocated for the Y’s well-attended English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, empowering Syrian, Ukrainian and new Canadians from other nations to enter into and thus strengthen the local economy.

“Our ESL programs continue to be accessed at high volume across all three YMCA Learning Services locations,” says Ashley McGee, team leader of Learning Services at the Huntsville Y office. “Fundraisers like the Muskoka Novel Marathon allow us to continue a very robust ESL Program while additionally responding to the growing needs beyond the classes themselves.”

The YMCA is now able to offer language assessments and help prepare ESL students for their final exams.

For more information on the 2024 Muskoka Novel Marathon, click here.

Videos courtesy of YMCA Simcoe-Muskoka

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The awards celebrate exceptional dedication within school communities in supporting students with dyslexia. According to Dyslexia Canada’s website, the award recognizes the contributions of a variety of school staff who showcase, “remarkable commitment and innovation in ensuring equitable education for students with dyslexia.”

The NNDSB literacy team – K-12 Student Achievement and Well-Being Principal, Stephen Krause, Lorianne Haslehurst, Amy Bartlett Gibson, Genive Di Bernardo, Lisa Rogers, Michael Watson and Rebekah Felsman – will be presented with a Literacy Leader Award at the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) Ontario Literacy and Learning Conference in Toronto on Saturday.

In advance of the awards ceremony, K-12 Student Achievement and Well-Being PrincipalStephen Krause said, “It is an honour to receive this acknowledgement from Dyslexia Canada, who continues to be at the forefront of supporting and leading literacy learning and work across the country. I am so very proud of the members of our literacy team and the collaboration they engage in alongside educators across our system every day. However, this award is also a recognition of our district and all who work in it, especially our K-12 educators as they dive deeper into their learning and work in school teams to make continual shifts in the literacy programming and delivery of instruction to meet the needs of all students most effectively.”

Award criteria includes commitment to dyslexia support, impact and results, collaborative approach and sustainability and scalability.

Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Melanie Gray said she was immensely proud of the work of the literacy team and was gratified to see them receive recognition by Dyslexia Canada.

“The work of this team is making news across the country, and I am happy to see them acknowledged for all the work they do to support their colleagues in furthering the board’s goal of student achievement and well-being,” said Gray.

Team member Genive Di Bernardo said, “The journey to literacy is not a solitary one and requires the collective, collaborative effort of educators, administrators, parents and communities … not to mention, students! We are grateful and proud to work in a district which continually challenges itself with this cause and champions this work. Personally, I’ve never before felt more empowered and prepared to teach children to read as I have through this work.”

Colleague Lorianne Haslehurst is grateful for the opportunity to do this work. “Being a part of the Near North literacy team has been the opportunity of a lifetime. As a literacy interventionteacher who taught during the days when we did not use evidence-based practices, my life was turned upside down (in the best way!) when I began to learn about how our brains learn to read and how to support students by learning how to explicitly teach foundational literacy skills.  Being able to work in a role where I can continue to deepen my knowledge of the science of reading be able to engage in this learning alongside educators is an incredibly rewarding experience.  There is a renewed energy in schools. As more teachers become immersed in this work, we see changes in our students’ confidence, attitudes towards reading and overall achievement. This is just the beginning. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a dedicated and impassioned team.

At this point in the school year, 94 per cent of schools have received direct support from literacy team members. The team has offered guidance and support for 8,977 Acadience reading screening assessments that have been administered by educators.

Among the initiatives of the literacy team to support their work is the creation and curation of an internal K-12 literacy site (which has been used by almost 600 different NNDSB educators), a literacy lending library to support educators, system professional development sessions, book clubs and engagement in literacy professional development to support the work across the district.

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The local novel marathon has been gathering writers together for a weekend dedicated to their craft since 2002. Each year, participants set out to produce a manuscript, whether it be a novel, a screenplay or even a collection of short stories or poetry, while socializing with and supporting other writers. After the weekend is over, the manuscripts are considered for MNM awards and the best manuscript winners get the chance to have their work reviewed by a publisher or an agent. Since its inception, the event has raised over $225,000 for literacy training programs in the region.

“The novel marathon is 72 hours of just writing,” said KM Wehrstein, convenor for the 2021 event. “Maybe you sleep, you usually eat and you write, and that’s it.”

Wehrstein’s first encounter with the MNM happened in 2005. She was walking by an old bank building in downtown Huntsville and noticed a sandwich board that said a novel marathon was happening inside. Figuring she would know at least one of the writers, she decided to check it out.

“I walked into the bank building and it was full of writers all pounding away,” Wehrstein said. “There were writers in the teller’s booth and writers in the offices and writers in the vault. The energy in the room of all that creativity pouring out was just amazing.”

Wehrstein immediately felt the need to be involved, so she joined the 2006 event and hasn’t missed one since. A few years later, she took up the task of running the MNM alongside fellow volunteer Paula Boon. Wehrstein has continued to volunteer for the event since then, so when the pandemic hit, she and the rest of the committee decided to move the marathon online.

The usual in-person event is held at the Active Living Centre and can only accommodate 40 writers, but because of the online format, the committee was able to offer unlimited seats last year and 66 writers signed up. This year’s marathon will also offer an unlimited number of spaces at a cost of just $25 compared to the usual $100 fee, giving writers the chance to try out a novel marathon at home for a reduced rate.

“Registration is open. It’s going to stay open right until the last minute because we can write with as many people as we want,” Wehrstein said. “Next year, if we go back to in-person, it’ll be capped at 40, so this might be a good chance for somebody who wants to jump in.”

The event itself isn’t until July 16 to 19, but in the meantime, the MNM committee will be hosting a series of workshops and lectures covering topics like writing what you know, professional-quality world building and how to go from MNM to international bestseller.

Registered writers can get into all the events for free while unregistered attendees can pay a small fee, which will benefit the YMCA literacy programs in Muskoka alongside any money raised by the writers. The fundraising aspect of the marathon was put on hold last year due to the pandemic, but the writers still managed to raise just over $5,000. This year, they’re renewing their fundraising efforts in support of local literacy.

“We know it makes a difference in people’s lives,” Wehrstein said. “Writers in particular know the importance of reading, the importance of the written word. How powerful it is, and how necessary it is.”

Wehrstein experienced the impact literacy can have in a profound way at her first MNM. A 96-year-old man who had just learned to read through the local literacy program, known then as the Muskoka Literacy Council, visited the marathon and shared his story. One of the MNM’s slogans is “writers helping readers,” so the literacy programs are a perfect fit as the event’s beneficiary, Wehrstein said. 

Committee member Jennifer Turney joined the MNM on a whim, participating as a writer for the first time in 2015, but it was the support for local literacy programs that led her to volunteer.

“Once I saw the passion that people had for raising money for literacy and how important it actually is to our community, I knew it was something I really wanted to be a part of,” Jennifer said. “So I volunteered in both the sponsorship coordinator role and as the media liaison.”

Jennifer is looking forward to attending the virtual event with her daughter Haley, who is returning for her third marathon after winning Rookie of the Year during her first go at the event in 2019. Jennifer herself has taken home two awards for best manuscript, leading her to act as a panelist for the workshop on How to Win a Muskoka Novel Marathon.

While Jennifer wishes the writers could be back in-person this year, she’s looking forward to the shared inspiration of the marathon and she’s excited to see what Haley and the rest of the writers come up with.

“To see that it’s grown from a couple people getting together to an event where there can be a real race to get a seat really speaks to how much people love it,” Jennifer said. “It’s something I’m really proud to be a part of.”

For more information, or to register for the event, visit the Muskoka Novel Marathon website.

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This week marks the start of Read On Canada!, an exciting initiative from a coalition of reading advocates and Food Banks Canada, supported by the generous donation of books from Canadian publishers. The Read On Canada! initiative is making more than 130,000 books available to families through food bank partners and sharing fun activities online at ReadOnCanada.ca. The goal is to inspire all children to “read on” as the school year officially comes to an end and the pandemic stretches into summer.

Read On Canada! was created to mitigate the effects of the “summer slide,” a drop in reading ability which can happen over the summer months, particularly among children who do not have opportunities to read during the school break. This year, the slide is expected by some educators to be a “summer avalanche” given the long disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions affect all children, including babies and pre-schoolers, with pandemic-related closures of libraries, daycares, and community programs.

“Too many children in Canada are heading into summer with limited access to reading materials,” said Ariel Siller, CEO of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, coordinating partner of the Read On Canada! coalition. “We launched Read On Canada! to help address that, providing books and reading activities to families with children from birth through to age ten so they can find joy, comfort, and enrichment in the power of words during these challenging times.”

All Canadians are encouraged to join the Read On Canada! movement by reading with a child they love and visiting ReadOnCanada.ca to check out the growing collection of fun reading activities for families. You can also show your support on social media by declaring that you are “reading on” this summer, using the hashtag #ReadOnCanada. Check out how astronaut Chris Hadfield has joined the movement in the video below.

The Read On Canada! coalition came together around a shared view that reading with children, starting from their earliest days, and supporting them to “read on” is an important way to help them reach their full potential in school and throughout life. Age-appropriate, engaging reading materials are crucial to helping children develop the skills they need to thrive emotionally and academically. Strong reading skills are strongly linked to children becoming healthier, more socially engaged and more productive adults.

“This summer, many families struggling with food insecurity will get the gift of hope in a food hamper,” says Chris Hatch, CEO of Food Banks Canada. “Because of our partnership with Read On Canada!, not only will families with children receive much-needed food supplies, but each child will also receive a book, which has the ability to open up a world of possibilities. They will know that someone cares, not only for their physical well-being, but for their development as well.”

For more information about Read On Canada!, visit the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation website.

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