Secrets in the stalls: The 'anonymous forum' of bathroom stall messages inspired a new book

"Emily is punctual."

"Veganism is the answer."

"He doesn't love you."

Those are just a few of the words writer Bridget Canning has documented in women's bathroom stalls over the past few years, first on herTumblraccount and now in the new bookWhat's Written in the Ladies.

The self-published book is a collection of years of Canning's photos taken inside stalls, some of them paired with short stories inspired by the stallsand written by local authors, including Kelley Power and Terry Doyle.

An anonymous public forum

Canning's photography hobby began some time ago, when she first got a phone with a camera in it, but her interest in washroom writing goes back even further.

"Iremember when Iwas in university and you'd be studying in the library for the finals, and you'd go into the bathroom and there'd always be things written on the walls," Canning told CBC's Weekend AM.

"I always used to find it really interesting maybe it was because Iwas looking for a study break to go in and see what people would write down."

Then while doing graduate work in literary education, Canning worked on a photography project about visual literacy. She decided to focus on washroom graffiti and put together photos for a class art exhibit related to the project.

"There was such a reaction to people reading the different messages, and different things people wrote and drew on the graffiti walls, that Idecided to keep collecting it and try to share it online," she said.

What she found was that themessages women leave for each other on bathroom stalls run the gamut, from crude or funny to supportive or inspirational.

The walls function as a sort of anonymousforum, Canning said, in a way that allows people to say things they might not otherwise share in public in a way that is non-digital but still temporary walls get cleaned, painted over, removed during renovations.

Sometimes those messages become warnings. "Iremember when Iwas living in Toronto you'd see 'rape lists,' lists of 'Stay away from these men' and you'd see people responding to each other, people arguing," she said.

Just as online lists of that sort have served a function for communities who don't feel comfortable sharing such warnings through more traditional channels, lists on bathroom walls do the same.

Images sparking an idea

As a book, What's Written in the Ladies began not online but in Canning's home, as part of a regular writing group.

Terry Doyle became involved with the story at one of those group meetings, when the bathroom photos were used as a writing prompt.

"She shared her Tumblr account with us, told us to go through, find images that might spark an idea," Doyle said.

Some of the photos are stories in themselves, he said, but others like the one he wrote about for the book, which says "Our home and native land" with three lipstick kisses underneath lend themselves to more creative interpretation.

Kelley Power came to the project a little later but found plenty of inspiration when she did, making note of photos that particularly struck her as she was scrolling the Tumblr feed, which Canning said now has at least 300 photos.

"The ones that particularly strike me to pursue for a story might not necessarily be the ones I find the funniest or the ones Ifind the deepest," Power said.

"It's just something that sparks another image for me."

Proceeds from the sale of the self-published book, which Canning also edited, will be donated tothe Safe Harbour Outreach Project, the province's only sex worker advocacy program.

What's Written in the Ladies is on sale at Broken Books in St. John's, Canning said, and people outside the areawho are interested can contact her via Instagram to find out about buying a copy as she sets up other retail locations.

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