Where Heroes Are Made: Writing thank-you postcards to progressive female-identifying politicians with Gabe Thirlwall was one of my favorite things I did in 2019; it was one of my favorite projects of the year (to counter the vitriolic, abusive mail they get all. the. time). We teamed up with a local Girl Scout group to start off the new year! The lawmakers who received the letters from the Girl Scouts were overjoyed by their thoughtfulness and generosity.
A lot of MPs who received their thank-you notes have expressed their gratitude in the most heartfelt terms. International Women’s Day speech in Queen’s Park included Bhutila Karpoche mentioning the letter she received. Thank you for such an effective project, she wrote. “I am grateful to you and my colleagues who have received these postcards for your effort to spread joy and warmth.”
Do you have any particularly fond memories of your current abode: Participants in the Love Lettering Project are asked to write letters expressing what they love about their town. When Lindsay Zier-Vogel started The Love Lettering Project in 2004, she asked people in their communities to write anonymous love letters to their cities, slip them inside the airmail boxes labeled “love,” and then discreetly distribute them across their towns and cities. As of this writing, approximately 250 Love Lettering Project events have taken place around the world. Through social involvement, this collaborative effort has the power to improve people’s relationships with their communities.
Lindsay and The Love Lettering Project have visited Canada’s north, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and New York City, with pop-up events in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta in the United States. Melody Warnick’s book, This Is Where You Belong, was launched in Washington, D.C., and Virginia with the help of the Love Lettering Project, which was featured at Smithsonian Museum Day 2016 in Riverside, California. The Ontario Arts Council has provided funds for Lindsay to offer place-based writing workshops at the Toronto Public Library. The David Suzuki Foundation’s international 30×30 campaign and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Weston Family Learning Centre in Toronto were inspired by the Love Lettering Project.
What You Need to Know About Lindsay
Lindsay is a writer and art instructor when she’s not doing love lettering. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Toronto and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto, where she was advised by award-winning novelist Anne Michaels. She studied contemporary dance at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Letters to Amelia, her debut novel, will be published by Book*Hug Press in 2022, and two location-based picture books will be published by Kids Can Press the following year in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Several of her pieces have appeared in journals and anthologies, including The Letters Page (University of Nottingham), The Toronto Star, Gooselane’s Where the Nights Are Twice as Long: Love Letters from Canadian Poets, Watermarks: Writing by Lido Lovers and Wild Swimmers (Frogmore Press/Pells Pool, UK), The Temz Review, The Quarantine Review (Dundurn Press), The Lampeter Review, Taddle Creek, Deccan There are three of her poems on the popular swimming blog, Swimming Holes We Have Known, one of which has been included to the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library’s permanent collection.
Currently serving as the Program Director of Word-Writing Play’s In The City creative writing program for Toronto kids, Lindsay has been working in education since 2001. Humber College, Toronto Public Library, the University of Toronto’s English Department’s Victoria College, and Concordia University in Montreal have all hosted her for interactive talks on community participation and placemaking.
The project has three main components:
Reflect on your favorite aspects of where you live: As a result of this paradigm shift, a city’s problems are no longer seen as a problem, but rather as an opportunity. This kind of social interaction fosters a sense of well-being and civic pride in the participants.
the art of writing love letters: As a means of promoting literacy and paper arts in a non-judgmental and accessible environment, the initiative was created. Once each letter has been written, Lindsay posts a snapshot of the finished product to the Love Lettering Project Instagram page, Twitter, and this website.
3). Some people bury their love letters for a stranger to discover: Finally, participants are asked to get more involved in the world around them by hiding their love letters for a stranger to find, with the only purpose of spreading happiness.
Press
- New York CityLab
- Reflecting on and appreciating the positive aspects of your home can make you happier, so writing an ode is a great way to do so.
- Melody Warnick is the author. The complete article can be seen at this link.
- Metro Morning is a regular stop for Lindsay.
- It’s Metro Morning on CBC radio on March 27, 2020!
- Having a good time in these confusing times
- Metro Morning on CBC Radio, Thursday, November 27, 2019
- Enjoy the warmth of the day!
- July 2, 2018: CBC radio’s metro morning
- Summer picnics are the subject of this affectionate letter.
- Re-aired on July 8th, 2018 on Fresh Air.
- This morning on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning January 17, 2018
- This is a love letter to winter picnics (And more from CBC and CBC TV here).
- Metro Morning on CBC Radio, October 2017
- A letter of devotion to the world of home-made Halloween costumes
- Metro Morning on CBC Radio, September 2017
- Picnics are my favorite thing in the world.
- June 2017 CBC Radio’s Metro Morning
- A love letter to the outdoor swimming pools of the warm-weather season.
- Metro Morning on CBC Radio, February 2017
Toronto’s Public Library system, Toronto’s District School Board, and Tourism Toronto are just some of the organizations Lindsay has collaborated with. Letters to Amelia, Lindsay’s epistolary novel, will be published by Book*hug on September 7, 2021. As part of the Love Lettering Project, Dear Street, a picture book, will be published by Kids Can Press in 2023. One of the 50 reasons to love Toronto, the Love Lettering Project has been covered in international media, including NPR, CityLab, The Londonist, CTV’s Canada AM, The Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail. On Metro Morning, Lindsay is a regular contributor.
- The Toronto Star February 16, 2016 “
- Letter-writing, calligraphy, and other forms of handwriting are making a comeback.
- Geoffrey Vendeville penned the piece. The complete article can be seen at this link.
- 14th September 2015, in The Metro
- In Toronto, the art of love lettering is spreading sentimental messages.
- Gilbert Ngabo penned the piece. The complete article can be seen at this link.
- On September 9, 2015, this article was first published online.
- Inside Toronto (The Beaches Mirror, The Scarborough Mirror, The East York Mirror, The Bloor West Villager, The Parkdale Villager, The Etobicoke… York Guardian
- Writing love letters to Toronto and posting them around the city is part of the Love Lettering Project, an initiative started by Torontonians. Sam Juric wrote this piece.
