Getting ideas across

Hermes (the Ancient Greek god)

Hermes is the herald of gods in Greek mythology. He is credited with the invention of writing and acts as the guardian of roads and travellers. Silver-tongued, witty and creative, Hermes is known for his ability to convey subtleties.

All these qualities make him the perfect icon for our gifted word wranglers, who are dedicated to conveying the meaning of your messages with clarity and panache to deliver the desired impact on the people you want to reach.

Annie Bergeron

LinkedIn

“Find beauty in everything you can.”
— Vincent Van Gogh

Annie is a polymath by nature, a music connoisseur by predilection and a weekend hiker by hobby. Her love of languages dates back as far as she can remember, bringing the world to her doorstep and her to the world. After graduating from Université Laval in 2003 with a B.A. in translation (English/Spanish to French) and a certificate in Russian studies, she freelanced for many years, exploring the ins and outs of this marvellous profession that nourishes her insatiable curiosity. Ecology, botany, medical sciences, math, scientific popularization, education, social sciences, travel, history and music are among her many areas of expertise, all of which present her with an abundance of opportunities to learn and grow. She is currently testing the waters of language teaching and actively seeks out opportunities to fine-tune her skills.

So what keeps Annie busy after she puts her translator’s hat away for the day? First and foremost, her role as a proud and devoted mom to the apples of her eye. Also on this list are martial arts (which she practises and teaches with equal dedication and discipline) and reading (which, frankly, she never gets enough of). Then there are the heady philosophical debates with friends that brighten the long winter months. And of course nature and gardening, which bring peace of mind and put lots of fresh, delicious vegetables on her family’s plate. That’s the long answer to the question. The short answer? Life, in all of its messiness and majesty!

Audrey Marcoux

LinkedIn

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
— Albert Einstein

Audrey is a graduate of the languages and literature program at Champlain St. Lawrence in Quebec City, where she studied Spanish, German and other subjects. She then went on to earn a B.Sc. in human kinetics and an M.Sc. in experimental medicine, with a focus on cardiology. As an ACSM–certified exercise specialist, Audrey has worked with patients with a variety of pathologies since 2004. After heading back to school and earning her M.A. in translation and terminology from Université Laval, she started working with Hermes in 2015 in a freelance capacity and officially joined the team in 2017.

Hailing from a small town in Quebec’s picturesque Beauce region, Audrey spent much of her childhood communing with the great outdoors. Community spirit, perseverance, resourcefulness and camaraderie are all values that have followed her throughout her admittedly charmed life. Healthy cooking, hiking, cycling, knitting, gardening, studying and—most especially—practising and teaching yoga and meditation are constant sources of joy in Audrey’s life.

André Noureau

“Feet on the ground, hands in the dirt and head in the clouds.”

After living and working in the Quebec City area for 56 years, André somehow ended up in the Canadian Northwest for almost seven years, before settling back down in a small community near the U.S. border (Saint‑Luc‑de‑Bellechasse, population 600). An unabashedly ardent promoter of the French language, he nurses a deep and abiding fascination with the sciences that help us understand the world we live in. He loves learning for learning’s sake, something that quickly comes across in his unusually thick transcript from Université Laval, which lists a bachelor’s degree with a major in geography and a minor in history and theatre, master’s degree seminaries in Quebec literature and theatre, a certificate in business writing and a master in translation and terminology among his academic credentials.

An earlier career path endowed him with 22 seasons’ worth of gardening and landscaping expertise. Since 2005, he has lent his bilingual editing, proofreading and English-to-French translation skills to a variety of organizations, eventually joining the eagle-eyed and sharp-minded team of language professionals at Hermes in the fall of 2021. His preferred leisure pursuits include reading, writing and literary translation (for the pure pleasure of it). He is passionate about theatre and video arts (interpretation, singing and dance; theatrical production; translation of dramatic works and behind-the-scene logistics) and actively contributes to Radio Taïga, a French-language station in Yellowknife, both on air and off. If that weren’t enough, he’s also an avid outdoorsman who loves to explore the wilderness on foot and by canoe. About his new old house, he is quick to quip that books are the walls that keep his roof propped up. His radio handle, Le vieux loup solitaire, says it all: he is an armchair intellectual, would-be philosopher, amateur artist and self-taught DIYer, uncompetitive to a fault and tilting at linguistic windmills at every opportunity.

Delphine Maton

“I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief
I come into the presence of still water
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light
For a time I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.”
— Wendell Berry 

From an early age, Delphine loved learning. A happy student, she particularly enjoyed math, English and Spanish, three new ways of expressing ideas. After two years at Dawson College, to make her bond with school a lasting one, she completed her undergraduate studies in the field of education and taught for several years as a high school math teacher. But as her pen grew restless, she decided to pursue a professional path that would combine both writing and problem-solving. In 2016, she completed a certificate in translation at McGill University, before enrolling in the translation studies graduate program at Concordia University.

Delphine carries within her the forests of her childhood, with its mysterious creatures and fantastic adventures, and the peaceful ponds where the precious cricket frogs sang through summer nights. In everyday life, she fosters her children’s sense of wonder and enthusiasm by discovering the many marvels of our world. The great outdoors, moments of shared happiness, meditation, and the insight of vibrant artistic works inspires her. And when time allows, Delphine playfully explores the endless possibilities of artistic expression through writing, painting, drawing, singing, and dancing.

Kim Lan Dô-Chastenay

“What the mind creates is more alive than matter.”
— Charles Baudelaire

Born in Vietnam and raised in Montreal, Kim Lan developed a passion for European languages at an early age, much to the surprise of everyone around her. After travelling to Italy on a student exchange, enrolling briefly in an international studies program and polishing her German in Montreal and Berlin, she considered giving translation a whirl. It seemed like a natural fit for a budding polyglot and curious global citizen, and she was right. After completing her undergraduate work at the Université de Montréal, she decided to pursue a master’s degree at Concordia, where her academic focus turned toward heterolingualism, or the use of multiple languages in a literary text. What energizes and excites her most about her not-so-accidental career path is the opportunity to learn about an endless array of topics on a daily basis, although she naturally leans toward anything to do with the environment, humanities, health and the economy.

More athletic than the average bookworm, Kim Lan enjoys running, soccer, cycling and badminton (don’t ask her to pick a favourite!). Her black thumb is a never-ending source of frustration both to her and to the poor little cucumbers she valiantly tries to keep alive on her balcony. She compensates with the odd trip to a u-pick berry farm during the summer. A self-avowed podcast addict, she dreams of one day translating the work of some of literature’s greatest female writers.

Sylvie Gagné

LinkedIn

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear,
but the triumph over it.”
— Nelson Mandela

As a child, Sylvie would read everything she could get her hands on. By the time she was in high school, it wasn’t unusual for her to devour three novels in the course of a weekend. After working in a variety of medical fields, she started dreaming about going back to school to study languages. That’s what led her to the English campus at O’Sullivan College, where she earned her pre-university credits. The bachelor’s degree in translation she yearned for soon followed. After a successful freelance career spanning close to 15 years, she joined the Hermes team as a translator and editor.

Born in an area of Quebec where the mighty St. Lawrence is at its most glorious, Sylvie is a nature lover and outdoor enthusiast by default. Equal parts self-starter, go-getter, do-gooder and mischief-maker, she is a woman of a thousand passions. You name it, she’s interested in it: reading, health and wellness, geography, travelling, aviation… and the nephews she unabashedly dotes on. She spends her summers at a (WiFi-enabled!) campground where she splits her time between wordsmithing and exploring the beauty and wonder of the great outdoors.

Mélodie Benoit-Lamarre

LinkedIn — Twitter — Résumé

“Wisdom begins in wonder.”
— Socrates

After devoting her youth to her love of classical piano, nurturing what would grow into an enduring fascination with foreign languages, planting tens of thousands of trees and backpacking across Western Canada and Europe, Mélodie discovered translation—where her naturally inquisitive mind and her ear for rhythm and musicality found a lasting home. She enrolled in the translation program at Université Laval, graduated with flying colours and subsequently parlayed her passion into a freelance career. A few years later, she was ready for the next leg of her professional journey: the launch of Hermes Translation. Along the way, she embarked on another adventure, co-founding the Language Entrepreneurs Forum (formerly known as ATAMESL), for which she served on the board for a decade. Today, she continues to be a sought-after speaker, lecturer and instructor who is happy to share her vision and expertise with a whole new generation of translators.

When she isn’t doing something language- or business-related, Mélodie can be found caring for her trio of little treasures (who are growing up so fast!). Together, they read stories, do crafts, make music and explore the world around them. Mélodie dreams of one day building her own house, surrounded by a forest garden of her own design—and has plenty of sketches to show for it. Over and above this passion project in the making, her life is a happy potpourri of overflowing bookshelves, stimulating conversations and rewarding encounters with people and nature… with a little sleep thrown in from time to time for good measure!

Pascal Danis

LinkedIn — Résumé

“If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.”
— Napoleon Hill

Pascal discovered the wonderful world of translation upon finishing his college studies in arts and literature. His passion for the profession grew at Université Laval, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in translation in 2006. While studying, he leapt on the opportunity to hone his skills at Traductions Langulaire, his alma mater’s student-run translation agency. His subsequent freelance career led him to broaden his knowledge of a wide variety of fields, from life sciences to film/TV subtitling and beyond. He joined Hermes in 2010 as a translator, editor and co-manager, roles he continues to enjoy as much today as when he started out.

Pascal is a veritable jack of all trades in every aspect of his personal and professional life. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the French language and revels in the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of English. He is also a die-hard hockey fan, a movie buff and a music aficionado, not to mention an avid gamer. Outside of work hours, he enjoys hiking, sharing his love of craft beer and having fun (and more than a few good laughs) with his family and friends.