Category: Ism Youth Files

ISM Youth Files Project – Submissions Wanted

August 22, 2021

MEDIARITES IS SEEKING YOUTH WRITING!

Download a PDF of the submissions form here
or fill out the submissions form online.

DEADLINE: November 1, 2021

MediaRites is responding to the isolation of youth during the pandemic and its effect on mental health in BIPOC and disability communities [ages 14-21]* for our e-book and audio podcast called The ISM Youth Files.

*younger or older youth outside of this range are also encouraged to submit their work.

We are producing four 30-minute podcasts of youth reading and talking about their work or youth performing selected written work. We will publish an e-book which will be distributed free. We will have mental health professionals as advisors to the project and pair writers with professional writers as mentors. The podcasts will feature youth hosts.

We seek submissions that express mental health stories in all short-form genres: monologues, personal essays, poetry and graphic short stories.

  • Word ranges are 1000-2000 words for monologues and essays. Selected entries will receive $300.
  • Graphic short stories (very short graphic novelette) should be within 3-6 8×10 pages maximum. Selected entries will receive $300.
  • Multiple poems can be submitted as one entry. Selected entries will receive $100-150.

Through panels of mental health consultants, partners and youth, we’ll select up to 15 or more submissions.

The definition of mental health for this project is inspired by a spirit of openness, positivity and non-judgement. We understand mental health issues can affect people in different ways. How do they affect you? One definition of wellness that might resonate is: “Wellness is not a state of being but a state of action. It is the freedom to move fluidly… through the experiences of being human.” (Nagoski & Nagoski, 2020). What does wellness mean to you?

We believe the work selected will reach and encourage BIPOC youth ages 14-21 to express creatively about the mental health challenges they face every day.

Please include your name/age and email your submissions in .docx or pdf format to mediaritespro@gmail.com. We have an option for youth to use a pen name when we publish but we would like full names/ages when you submit your work.

More about MediaRites Productions at: https://mediarites.org/

ANNOUNCING THE ISM YOUTH FILES

August 22, 2021

A new project of mental health stories by youth includes an e-book and resource toolkit and four nationally distributed 30-minute podcasts and short form films called “Choreo-Poem.”

With support from the Ronni S. Lacroute fund, the Oregon Community Foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation and Oregon Children’s Theatre, the Peabody award-winning multicultural production organization MediaRites is launching a project responding to the isolation of youth and its effect on mental health in BIPOC and disability communities (ages 14-21).

The ISM Youth Files includes) 1) an e-book collection of monologues, personal essays, poetry and short graphic novelettes, 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 will also be distributing the podcast on all platforms and nationally through PRX.org (Public Radio Exchange).

Through submissions from youth around the country, this project will have an emphasis on Oregon youth. Announcements are being sent to public schools, libraries and community organizations. Through a panel comprised of mental health consultants, partners and youth representatives, we’ll select up to 15 or more submissions. Each submission selected receive an honorarium payment. Deadline is Nov. 1st!

Download a PDF of the submissions form here
or fill out the submissions form online.

Two decades earlier, MediaRites produced a book and CD series called “Sorting Through Shadows: Youth Speak Out on Mental Health.” MediaRites selected essays from more than 25 contributors from all over country and the world. 

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 will be associate producer.

Partners for this project include:

Dr. S. Renee Mitchell, PhD is the visionary, writer and principal consultant for  I Am M.O.R.E.  (Making Ourselves Resilient Everyday).  She is doctoral candidate from the University of Oregon, specializing in empowering Black youth to creatively heal from racial trauma from a heart-centered, cultural relevant framework. Her I Am MORE program is the only Oregon-based organization to win two national awards for its culturally relevant social-emotional learning programming.  Mitchell is a longtime youth advocate, educator, creative writer, multimedia artist and winner of the 2019 Spirit of Portland Award.

Dr. Eleanor Gil-Kashiwabara, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist is our mental health consultant who grew up in New Jersey but lives and practices in Portland, OR. The daughter of two social workers, she was raised with a social justice orientation and incorporates this perspective into her psychological practice. Her training and professional experience has focused on children and families experiencing a variety of issues including, but not limited to trauma (including intergenerational trauma, historical loss and racial trauma), early childhood attachment disruptions and maltreatment, neurodevelopmental disorders and mood disorders. As a bilingual, Latinx psychologist of Puerto Rican and Cuban descents, she is passionate about and committed to providing culturally responsive services to all clients, while emphasizing the addressing of service inequities and culturally-specific service provision in Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and African American communities. More at luminosapsych.com/about/

Oregon Children’s Theatre, a premiere youth theater dedicated to exception theater and storytelling experiences that can educate, empower, inspire and entertain in remarkable ways. OCT, under the leadership of Artistic Director Marcella Crowson, will provide resources to help with finding youth performers and in the creation of a resource toolkit that could be shared nationally to Theatre for Young Audiences that would perhaps seed a national anthology of stories, films and stage performances.  This toolkit will also be available free.

With the guidance of community partners, creative writing mentors and mental health experts, we can raise awareness for a still taboo subject of mental health and suicide through our submissions process and artwork created.

“Wellness is not a state of being but a state of action. It is the freedom to move fluidly… through the experiences of being human.” (Nagoski & Nagoski, 2020).