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Mental Health and Me –
Faces, Places and Spaces, Creative Writing Competition
WRITTING on the Wall and the Liverpool Mental
Health Consortium are proud to announce that Mental Health and Me is back for
the third year running with 2016 bringing a fresh new twist to the prolific
writing competition introducing Faces, Places and Spaces as the theme for its
third publication. Faces, Places and Spaces will always have a major impact on
anyone's mental health and often these 3 elements are a centre point for any
writer or great piece of fiction.
This competition is open to anyone who has an experience or interest in mental
health, whether this is based on a true story or entirely fictionalised:-
► Entrants can submit an original piece of creative writing based around the
theme:- 'Mental Health and Me'.
► There are 3 categories to enter:-
'Faces', 'Places' or 'Spaces.'
► Entrants can submit their piece of writing as a poem, short story, blog or
diary entry, a journalism piece, spoken word piece or a tweet.
2 Free Creative Writing Workshops
► The group is offering 2 free creative writing workshops aimed at anyone who is
considering submitting a competition entry.
► The workshops will offer tips, exercises and discussions to help get entrants
creative juices flowing.
► Dates of Workshops:- Wednesday, 20 July and Wednesday, 17 August 2016. See
website for more details.
Prizes
► The overall winner will receive the special WoW and LMHC trophy, and book
tokens from Liverpool's independent book store, News from Nowhere. All
shortlisted entries will be included in an anthology published by Liverpool
Mental Health Consortium and Writing on the Wall.
Celebration Event
► Evening of World Mental Health Day, Monday, 10 October
2016, all entrants will be
invited to a celebratory event at Liverpool Central Library.
► All entrants will be issued with a certificate. Winners and runners up will be
invited to read out their work and accept their certificate/prize.
► A special guest (TBC) will be announced to judge the winner... watch this
space! Previous special guests have been Ruby Wax and the rapper Professor
Green.
Rules and Guidelines
To find out more information on rules and guidelines or how to enter, please
click on
here.
Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree and Shadow Cabinet Minister for
Mental Health, says:- 'I'm delighted to be supporting the Mental Health
and Me writing competition, which is now in its third year. This hugely
successful initiative highlights some of the best creative talent our region has
to offer, and has rightly been recognised by mental health campaigner and
comedian Ruby Wax. For many people, creative support forms a vital part of their treatment for
their mental health problem. 'I would encourage anybody in our region who is
thinking of making a submission to do so; whether you have experienced mental
health issues yourself, helped a friend or family member with theirs, or have an
interest in the area more generally, this competition is an excellent way to
raise awareness, reduce stigma, and showcase talent.'
Claire Stevens, Development Manager of the Liverpool Mental Health Consortium
says:- 'Mental Health is a major issue in Merseyside, where 1 in 3 GP
appointments in Liverpool are mental health related. The 'Mental Health and Me'
writing competition has been one of the highlights of the Liverpool Mental
Health Festival for the past two years and Liverpool Mental Health Consortium is
delighted to be working with Writing on the Wall again this year to encourage
local writers to share their thoughts on the Spaces, Places and Faces which have
an impact on their mental health; for better or for worse. I'm really looking
forward to reading, and hearing, what everyone has to say.'
Chanel Scott – Jeffers, Writing on the Wall's Project Coordinator for Mental
Health and Me, says:- "Writing on the Wall are delighted to continue this
fantastic partnership with the Liverpool Mental Health Consortium and proud to
work together to provide a creative outlet for entrants to share their own very
real stories and experiences with mental health; a subject which still
unfortunately remains very much taboo. The high numbers of entries that we have
received over the past 2 years proves that there is a demand for this type of
competition and a desire among people suffering with poor mental health to use
creativity as way of expressing themselves and highlighting the difficulties
faced by many within our communities."
Mental Health and Me 2015 Winner, Pat Fearon says:- '"To pleased to hear
you are doing Mental Health and Me again. I thought last year's book of the
contributions to this competition was most moving and honest. I so admired the
effort so many had made to open up this subject to creating public awareness and
understanding and sympathy; all needed! Keep up the good work, all you potential
writers out there who can create so much insight as to the suffering involved.
The world needs to know!" The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium will be holding a festival from the 1
October to
14 October 2016.
More information on Liverpool Mental Health Festival can be found
online. |
