Trigger Warning: This installment is collaborative, and because it isn't medical advice but may prove challenging, both authors encourage readers to care for their safety and emotional well-being.
Hi Friends:
Because writer’s block is episodic melodrama, this issue includes:
A sip…
The muse understands the myth of the strong woman to be nothing more than a Little White Lie…
A shout out…
The strength of the naturally occurring chemical element, iron (Fe), affords that it is a critical component of the inorganic alloy, steel. The fact that both are more brittle than diamonds validates Bassey Ikpi’s mission to center mental health awareness around Black and Brown people.
An advocate, contributing editor, essayist, public speaker, radio/TV personality, and spoken word artist, who publicly discusses her struggles with anxiety, depression, and Bipolar II Disorder, she deserves greater recognition for finding/organizing the global initiatives, The Siwe Project and #NoShameDay, and penning the New York Times bestselling essay collection, I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying.
An early immigrant with her family to the United States from Cross River State, Nigeria, she has actively and candidly written about mental illness stigma, diagnosis, and treatment options since 2011. The composer and performer of original poems in recognition or tribute at leading award ceremonies, she has also contributed commentary to Ebony, Essence, Huffington Post, The Root, and xoJane.
An innovator who approaches the art of spoken word to provoke discussion and the organizer of Nigeria’s first national poetry slam competition, Basseyworld Presents Naija Poetry Slam (2012), she was celebrated as a woman building infrastructure for future African generations when added to the OkayAfrica 100 Women List (2020).
A sentence…
Prompts inspired by I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying:
“Imagine you didn't fit in anywhere, not even in your own head.”
“I know how the brain and the heart and the spirit fight daily to stay in the book and not write themselves out of the story. I know. I know. I know.”
“It's difficult to distinguish which lies are mine and which belong to others. Which I told to close the gaps in my brain and which were told to me to silence my questions.
“I give them the suggestion Allow yourself morning. I tell them it means that today may have been a rolling ball of anxiety and trembling, a face wet and slick with tears, but if you can get to morning, if you can allow yourself a new day to encourage a change, then you can get through it. Allow yourself morning.”
“This thing ain’t easy. And I don’t mean to complain because this life is beautiful and it’s magic. And I am blessed and grateful. But this brain feels broken sometimes. This brain does this thing that takes little soap bubbles of “everyone feels this sometimes” and morphs them into latex balloons of “you’re the only one in this world who can’t seem to lift herself out of bed in the morning” and then the balloon becomes brick and the brick becomes a wall and the wall is a mountain and then you’re stuck. So I’m grateful to only be a latex balloon right now.”
A few useful tips…
A character experiencing emotional episodes may:
Not sleep.
Hear voices.
Lack energy.
Embellish truth.
Have a loss of appetite.
Feel touched when alone.
Speak rapidly and constantly.
Smell an odor that others cannot smell.
Abruptly pause in conversation or activity.
Experience sudden loss in trains of thought.
Switch from one topic to another mid-sentence.
Experience taste when there is nothing in their mouth.
A challenge opportunity…
A few contests/competitions…
Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award
The Hurston/Wright Crossover Award for Non-Fiction
A few grants/fellowships/retreats/scholarships…
National Endowment for the Arts’ Creative Writing Fellowships
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships
A few freelance opportunities…
Apartment Therapy is seeking pitches related to Mental Health Awareness Month about life at home.
New Lines is seeking pitches for stories about reproductive rights.
A submission opportunity…
Torch Literary Arts seeks original creative work by Black women writers.
A few sessions & workshops…
March 5th
March 6th
March 7th
March 9th
March 10th
March 11th
Ongoing
A Work in Progress Writers Group
Chaulk Scribblers Writers Critique Group
Writing Circle Drop-In Sessions
And a final thought…
This installment is a collaborative effort; the featured author and writing prompts invite you to explore lived experiences and were suggested by the brave and emotionally honest,
-host of Here Comes the Sun, subscribe here:It also contains an affiliate link; I earn commissions when you purchase books using that link, or you may please buy me a coffee.
Thanks for reading,
Thank you again for inviting me to collaborate! Such a necessary topic and a great author doing great work.
Such a fabulous resource!