Enter the storm and speak your mind

NISA’s eighth annual BrainStorm poetry contest opens Jan. 4, 2010

SUDBURY, ONTARIO (Nov. 23, 2009) — The Northern Initiative for Social Action (NISA), a Sudbury-based, non-profit agency that works with consumers and survivors of mental health services, is pleased to announce its eighth annual BrainStorm poetry contest. This contest runs from Jan. 4 to March 19, 2010 and is open to poets worldwide.

“The annual BrainStorm contest is an effective way for NISA to showcase the work of its readers and other mental health consumers,” says Mary Katherine Keown, the interim editor and publisher of Open Minds Quarterly, NISA’s literary magazine. “This year, we’re hoping to receive more submissions from poets outside North America, in order to raise awareness and to educate the public on the realities of mental health in different geographic regions.”       

Subject matter is entirely open and needn’t focus on one’s struggle with mental health; however, the BrainStorm poetry contest is open exclusively to consumers and survivors of mental health services.

About NISA:

Northern Initiative for Social Action is a member-driven occupational initiative that provides a variety of opportunities for participation. Programs include the Artists’ Loft; the Northern Computer Recycling Depot (NCRD), which refurbishes gently used computers for resale; the Dandelion Café, which provides on-the-job customer service training; the Warm Hearts/Warm Bodies quilting program, which donates quilts annually to a Sudbury-based shelter for at-risk and homeless youth; and the Writers’ Circle, which publishes Open Minds Quarterly and conducts creative and professional workshops with aspiring writers interested in polishing their work.

The BrainStorm poetry contest runs from Jan. 4 to March 19, 2010. It is intended as a fundraiser for NISA’s literary magazine, Open Minds Quarterly, as well as a way of supporting consumers and survivors of mental health services by awarding prizes to the top three winners. Full details and entry forms are available from NISA’s website. For more information, please go to www.nisa.on.ca. Inquiries may be directed to Mary Katherine Keown or Dinah Laprairie at op*******@ni**.ca or +1-705-675-9193 ext. 8286.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Mary Katherine Keown (interim editor and publisher, Open Minds Quarterly)

Dinah Laprairie (editor and publisher, Open Minds Quarterly)

E-mail: op*******@ni**.ca

Phone: +1-705-675-9193 ext. 8286