Unquiet Minds

05/24/2025

Join Victoria’s Poet Laureate, Kyeren Regehr, for an afternoon of poetry, music and community connection in the heart of nature. Featuring readings by Maleea Acker, Fatima-Ayan Malika Hirsi and Youth Poet Laureate Shauntelle Dick-Clarkson.

This year’s gathering also includes music by Lex Venn, a sound practitioner who works with crystal bowls and other instruments to create restorative experiences and a special welcome by Brianna Bear.

✨ Bring a blanket, a chair and something to sip - then stay to share your own words in a collaborative Community Poem.
Free and open to all.

📅 Sunday, June 8
🕑 2 p.m.
📍 Beacon Hill Park (near the Garry Oak Meadow)

Let’s gather, reflect and celebrate our shared connection to the land.

05/23/2025

The Unquiet Minds: Youth Anthology of Art and Poetry (2022) will be added to the Greater Victoria Public Library's collection. Come to the launch party and meet some local authors and their books. I will be there as the anthology's editor-in-chief.

Greater Victoria is home to an incredible community of writers — and we’ve been proud to showcase their work for the past ten years through GVPL’s Emerging Local Authors Collection.

On Saturday, May 24, join us in the Central Branch Courtyard as we mark this milestone with the launch of the 2025 collection. Enjoy light refreshments, meet some of the authors, and help us celebrate a decade of storytelling, creativity, and community. All are welcome.

08/21/2024

Check out the latest ad in the Federation of British Columbia Writers' magazine, WordWorks, in the Launched section.

Link: https://issuu.com/fbcw/docs/wordworks_vol_2_2024_w_links

02/26/2024

You can peruse Mustahid Husain's review of my book, UNQUIET MINDS: A YOUTH ANTHOLOGY OF ART AND POETRY (2022), in the newest issue of Anthropologica! + Thanks to this journal's staff for all their time making this happen.

LINK - https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2667/2463

11/22/2023

Calling all young Bangladeshi-Canadian creative minds! There is a special issue opportunity for an offshoot project involving these communities in Canada. Tell all your eligible friends.

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Unquiet Minds: An Arts-based Competition for Bangladeshi-Canadian Youth

Cash Prizes:
1st Prize: $500
2nd Prize: $300
3rd Prize: $200

**Objectives**
Bangladeshi-Canadian diasporic community prides itself on its rich cultural heritage and close-knit family traditions. However, Bangladeshi-Canadian youth appear to face conflicting expectations (e.g., cultural, religious, or as a Canadian-Bangladeshi) from their parents and in their communities. This puts substantial pressure on these youth, who then can struggle with identity crises, feelings of not belonging, and mental health challenges. The research team wants to hear directly from the Canadian youth of Bangladeshi origin with an aim to understand the underlying structural, cultural and familial contributors to their worsening mental health. The research team intends to develop targeted interventions to effectively facilitate healthy cultural integration.

Participant age group: Aged 15-29 years inclusive.

Deliverable: Art pieces, comics, poems, short stories, scripts, short films, podcasts, fashion samples, and any creative output (e.g. no-faced photographs) that portrays the voice of the Bangladeshi-Canadian youth in relation to their struggles.

Submission Date: Friday, 15 December via [email protected].

Organized by: Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto and Toronto Film Forum.

Funded by: Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Canada.

Questions: Please contact Dr. Mustahid Husain, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto.

09/15/2023

https://www.instagram.com/p/CxGkUeqv1Op/

REPOST from Solastalgia's IG (Linked Above):

In partnership with (https://www.instagram.com/thestarfishca/) and with support from (https://www.instagram.com/theyouthharbour/), we are now accepting submissions for Solastalgia Volume 2 with the theme of Eco-Empowerment and Climate Action! 🎉 We are looking for artwork, stories and creative expressions that translate your emotions into actions in the face of the climate crisis. What gives you optimism, agency or a sense of community in the face of our shared reality? What sparks your active hopes and radical imaginations of a better future?

Submissions are open to youth across Canada ages 15-30 on a rolling basis starting today and ending Nov 27 at 11:59 PM PST. Ten (10) selected submissions will receive a $150 honorarium each! ✨💸

All forms of art are accepted! 🎨📸✍️

Please submit your work via the intake form in our bio.

Don’t hesitate to send us a DM if you have questions!

We look forward to seeing your submissions!😍

07/10/2023

✨🌟

“Being yourself / That's golden / Dreaming Big / That's golden” (57) You will find this passage in the eccentric work of Unquiet Minds: Youth Anthology of Art and Poetry (2022). It is a book filled with heartwarming pieces that captivate readers into a world of colour, quirkiness, and reflection...

03/01/2023

We’re heading into our busiest months for poets & the spoken word community … and we love it! 🥰

So thrilled to share our inaugural World Poetry Day Celebration!!!

•Please join the Victoria Arts Council, Victoria Poetry Project, and Planet Earth Poetry for an informal gathering to reflect on our shared offerings. All poets and lovers of poetry are welcome: page poets, spoken word artists, and anyone who enjoys playing with words.

WHERE: Victoria Arts Council
1800 Store Street (wheelchair accessible), in downtown Victoria

WHEN: 7-9pm, Tuesday Mar 21, 2023

For those who would like to participate, please bring along your favourite writing implements (pen + paper or digital), and we will have poetry prompts available.

7-8pm: Relaxed co-writing session
8-9pm: Opportunity to share at an informal open mic hosted by Torsten Schoeneberg.

Free for all!
No RSVP required

07/20/2022

https://poets.ca/2022-jspp-winners/

2022 Jessamy Stursberg Youth Poetry Prize Winners Congratulations to the 2022 Winners of the Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Prize. The jurors were incredibly impressed with the quality of poems submitted this year, and we thank everyone who shared their poetry with us— we know the future of professional...