Faces to the Sun is an anthology project devised and spearheaded by SJ Blasko. It aims to chip away at the stigma surrounding the subjects of mental health and mental illness by bringing together 45 independent creators from around the world to share their experiences through writing and art. The book itself is 236 gorgeous, full-color pages filled with artwork, photography, poetry and prose. Following in the footsteps of our first anthology (There is Us), all proceeds from the sales of Faces to the Sun will be donated monthly to organizations and groups providing mental health services, such as: BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) The Trevor Project ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network)
Authors
S. Rupsha Mitra is a poet from India with a penchant for everything creative. She is a feminist writer and an advocate for disability and mental health. Rupsha has been writing poetry since childhood and began to publish her work at the age of seventeen. Rupsha’s writing has appeared in Around the Round Table Journal, Audacity Magazine, The Birmingham Arts Journal, Brown Girl Magazine, Chautauqua Journal, Ekstasis (Christianity Today), The Frame Magazine, Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), The Kali Anthology: Poems by Indian Women Poets, The London Reader, Mekong Review, Mermaids Monthly, Muse India, North Dakota Quarterly, Pif Magazine, Propertius Press, Science for the People Magazine, South End Stories, and South Seattle Emerald. In 2021 Rupsha’s micro-chapbook Dandelion Skin was released by Origami Poems, her chapbook Soul God was the finalist in the chapbook contest held by The Poetry Question, and she took part in The Poetry inPrint Residency. In 2022, Rupsha participated in the collaborative Nautanki Festival project organized by Nautanki नौटंकी Creation. In addition to her creative work, Rupsha wrote an episode for the National Diversity Awards nominated podcast Hear Myself Think. Rupsha is enamoured with dance and believes that all art forms inspire one another. She studies psychology at the University of Calcutta and is fascinated by concepts such as defense mechanisms and aspects of religion and national heritage. Rupsha often likes to explore themes such as culture, spirituality, and identity in her writing and in her debut poetry book Smoked Frames, released by JLRB Press in 2023, Rupsha takes us on a sensuous journey through her vision of fantasy, passion, and self.
[she/her] The first thing Martina ever wrote was fanfiction. But since 12-year-old Martina didn’t have a clue about how a good story should look like, the stories were accordingly cringe. That didn’t stop her though, so she continued to write. Until fanfiction turned into original work and oneshots turned into short stories. In 2016 she finally brought all her self-confidence together and entered a short story competition for the first time. This first anthology - and all those that followed it - mean the world to her. When Martina is not writing, she cuddles with her army of dogs and cats, fangirls about her newest ship or reads a book from her kilometer-long “To be read” list.
