Author Archive:

Cara Chen

June 3, 2022

Cara Chen (she/her) is a student at Lakeridge High School. She has previously published work under the pen name Coco in the February 2022 and May 2022 editions of Tripping the Zine Fantastic, an online publication. She hopes to continue pursuing writing wholeheartedly, either as a hobby or a career, and she takes great joy in knowing that, somewhere out there, somebody is listening. In her free time, she is a voracious consumer of all kinds of books and all things related to the Great British Baking Show. She would like to thank her friends, online and in person, for sticking with her through her process of self-discovery as a writer.

Keona Burch

June 3, 2022

Keona Burch (she/her) is from Portland, Oregon, but currently studying at Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding high school in Massachusetts. She enjoys creative writing but only began writing poetry this past year. Since she has not had her work published before, she is so excited for this opportunity to share it. While she doesn’t think she will pursue writing professionally in her future, she hopes to improve her writing and continue telling stories. She is currently considering pursuing psychology or neuroscience in college, although that is likely subject to change. She would like to thank her family and all her English teachers, who encouraged her to write and helped her improve. 

Veronica Salrin

June 3, 2022

Veronica Salrin (any pronouns) is a sophomore at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana. This is their first time publishing, and they are beyond grateful for the opportunity to. Veronica struggles with a connective tissue disorder, and uses writing to describe their struggles in these areas. They hope to attend Rice University, Depaul University, or Carnegie Mellon to pursue a career in the design field or social service field. In their free time, Veronica likes to sew, design interiors, create jewelry, and spend time with their family. They would like to thank their family and their close friends for always being supportive and encouraging to them

Erik Nielsen

June 3, 2022

Erik Nielsen, an eleventh grader at Churchill High School, is currently live in Livonia, Michigan with his parents and younger sister. While most of his time is devoted to school, he also loves to play basketball and enjoys the outdoors. For the longest time, he would have told anyone that math and science were the only subjects he enjoyed, as the monotonous essay writing in his language arts classes killed his interest in writing. Only more recently has he realized the value of poetry as the ultimate form of expression. The amount of meaning that can be packed in through the meter, rhyme scheme, and even the smallest word choices is what makes poetry truly special to him.

Mila Kashiwabara

June 3, 2022

Mila Kashiwabara is so excited to be featured in this writing project. She is 10 years old and she lives in Portland Oregon. Mila is an actor, singer and dancer but in her free time she enjoys writing and journaling. This is her first writing piece that is going to be in an eBook or be seen by people other than herself or her teachers. She is very happy that this is going to be her first published writing piece because she believes that sharing stories about mental health is a very important thing to do. Mila thanks her family for supporting her and Dmae for this opportunity.

Adrija Jana

June 3, 2022

Adrija Jana is a passionately creative writer based in India. She mostly creates poetry pieces based on her personal experiences as well as social issues she is passionate about. Her work mostly revolves around protest against period  poverty, marital rape and advocating for freedom of choice. She is inspired by writers such as Margaret Mitchell and Rupi Kaur, as well as the minutiae of everyday life.

Apart from being a writer, Adrija is also a Spoken Word Artist, Theatrecian, Filmmaker and creative researcher, and all her work is woven together by common themes. She believes that creative pieces that let the innate imperfection shine through truly touch hearts. 

Adrija is not just a creative artist, but also a creative activist, as she channelises her creative interest and energy to raise her voice about issues she’s passionate about, and empowers people around to speak out for themselves.

You can reach out to Adrija or read more about her work on her instagram account.

Meet our first round of winners for The Ism Youth Files

February 4, 2022

MediaRites presents our first round of submissions, we’ve selected the first five winners chosen for The -Ism Youth Files, a new project of mental health stories by youth including an e-book and resource toolkit and four nationally distributed 30-minute podcasts and short form films called “Choreo-Poems.” Our project is a response to the isolation of youth and its effect on mental health in BIPOC and disability communities (ages 12-21).

The selected pieces are:

“Pandemic 2021″ by Deandre Avant, age 20

I’m Deandre Avant (he/him). I was born and raised here in Boston, Massachusetts. I have three brothers, four sisters, two nieces and two nephews. I went to Boston Arts Academy for five years as a Visual Arts major. I also worked for the Boch Center as a Dancer for three summers. Now I work for Teen Empowerment as a Dancer for two years including summers. The plans I have for my future are to be a very successful architect and get married to my girlfriend. Be able to make all the money in the world so I can buy numerous things including a house. Also to have my own dance studio for youth to be able to have a space to build careers and better my city.

“Ripped From the Arms of Logic and Knocking on the Neighbor’s Door for the Spare Key” by Niko Boskovic, age 20

Niko, age 20, lives in Portland, Oregon. As a child, he underwent a lot of therapy to treat his autism, but never really needed most of it. Niko finds that he is best able to express his lived experience through poetry, and has been published in Montana Mouthful; Lunch Ticket’s Amuse-Bouche: Spotlight; In Parentheses Magazine; and The Pointed Circle.

“COVID: We Went Through That” by Journeya, age 17

I’m Journeya, and at this moment, I am 17 years old. I live in Mystic Connecticut with my soul companions Callie the talkative cat, Jasper the energetic beagle, and all of my wonderfully joyous plant friends. Fun fact: I live right by the famous Mystic Pizza and walk by it from time to time. 

“Smile” by Ella Celko. age 12

Ella is in the sixth grade at Childpeace Montessori School.  She lives in Portland with her parents, brother, and two cats.  She enjoys drawing and playing with her cats.  She also loves sushi and macarons.

“Get Up” by Roodley Merilo, age 17

Roodley is a Haitian-American senior at New London high school that hopes to become an accomplished writer in the near future. Previous works have included writing 12 a.m. Thoughts for Writer Block INC as well as being commisioned for a piece with F.R.E.S.H. In his free time Roodley likes to take pictures for his community and is an ECC all-star for his track and field team. They’d like to thank Joshua Brown and Juanita Wilbur for nurturing his writing career. 

Send in your youth writing for a new project of youth stories about challenges, hopes and dreams to be included in an e-book, four nationally distributed 30-minute podcasts and short form films!

Deadline – Mar. 15th 2022. Read guidelines or submit your work here. 

The Peabody award-winning multicultural and multi-discipline production organization MediaRites is launching ROUND TWO of our submissions for a project responding to the isolation of youth, life challenges and its effect on youth mental health and well-being in BIPOC and disability communities (suggested ages 12-21).

The ISM Youth Files is looking for personal essays, monologues, poetry and short graphic novelettes for 1) an e-book collection o, 2) four 30-minute podcasts of youth stories, interviews and performances and 3) 2-3 minute films of performed poetry with movement. The e-book, podcast and films will be distributed free.

We accept submissions from youth around the country with an emphasis on Oregon youth. Each writing submission selected receives an honorarium payment of $100-$300. Additional payment for podcast readings or film appearances!

The -Ism Youth Files Second Round of Submissions

January 16, 2022

THE ISM YOUTH FILES SECOND ROUND OF WRITING CONTEST SUBMISSIONS – DUE MARCH 15TH! All youth will be paid!

Send in your youth writing for a new project of youth stories about challenges, hopes and dreams to be included in an e-book, four nationally distributed 30-minute podcasts and short form films! The Peabody award-winning multicultural and multi-discipline production organization MediaRites is launching ROUND TWO of our submissions for a project responding to the isolation of youth, life challenges and its effect on youth mental health and well-being in BIPOC and disability communities (suggested ages 10-21).

The ISM Youth Files is looking for personal essays, monologues, poetry and short graphic novelettes for 1) an e-book collection o, 2) four 30-minute podcasts of youth stories, interviews and performances and 3) 2-3 minute films of performed poetry with movement. The e-book, podcast and films will be distributed free.

Youth can submit a piece they’ve already written or use the following prompts to create a new piece:

What does it feel like when you feel connected to others?What makes you feel hope when you feel down?

How do you help a friend or loved one when they face challenges in their lives? What are your wishes for 2022 and why?

We accept submissions from youth around the country with an emphasis on Oregon youth. Each writing submission selected receives an honorarium payment of $100-$300. Additional payment for podcast readings or film appearances!

Deadline – Mar. 15th 2022. Read guidelines or submit your work here. 

The ISM Youth Files project is led by Dmae Lo Roberts, a two-time Peabody award-winning documentary producer, filmmaker and writer and the executive producer of MediaRites. Samson Syharath, a Portland theater artist, playwright and educator is the associate producer.
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