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Message From The Editor
A Creative Writing Example
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I am very pleased to present this web page for Raking the Moon, an anthology of psychiatric survivor creative writing originally proposed by the FMP Collective. We've been preparing ourselves for over a year to get this project off the ground, and now, with a grant from the Canada Council enabling me to work full time on this book, it has become a reality.
A psychiatric label can be a very silencing thing.
Schizophrenia, Bi-polar disorder, Borderline Personality, Depression, these labels limit and seek to define us, reduce us to a series of symptoms and behaviours that require medicating and watchfulness, removing us too often from the world of expectations and accomplishments.
Deep within ourselves, we know that we are each unique individuals, though we bear a common label of "the mentally ill", and as individuals we require challenge to help us grow, opportunity to help us thrive, and acceptance to ease our path back to a full life.
None of these things will be made available to us without struggle, without a new understanding of the people hidden behind the label.
Since I was first published by Penguin Canada in 1992, and through the four other books that followed, I've been privileged to meet with survivors across the country, and have gained a growing awareness of the depth of talent within the psychiatric survivor community.
I have also learned that it is one thing to have our stories told by others, quite another to write our own lives. Our individual experiences and "outsider" perspectives can not only benefit our own communities, but also contribute to a fuller, richer body of literature chronicling our times.
Raking the Moon will unveil our world, ourselves, our visions: it starts with you!
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Biographical Information:
Pat Capponi, who is editing this anthology, has carved out a career as an author, journalist, speaker, and social activist. She has written extensively on mental health, addictions and poverty issues, and has worked in a variety of settings, which have helped her to develop her skills as a community worker, an educator, a facilitator, an advocate, a writer and a public speaker.
Books by Pat Capponi:
Upstairs in the Crazy House: The Life of a Psychiatric Survivor. Penguin Canada, 1992.
Un Maison de Fou. Translated by Marie-Claire Saint-Jean. Published by Guy Saint-Jean Editeur Inc., 1993.
Dispatches from the Poverty Line, Penguin Canada, 1997.
The War at Home: An Intimate Portrait of Canada's Poor. Penguin Canada, 1999.
Bound by Duty: Walking the Beat with Canada's Cops. Penguin Canada, 2000.
Beyond the Crazy House: Changing the Future of Madness. Penguin Canada, 2003.
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