Mississauga # First Nation youth honoured with writing award
By Rick Garrick
MISSISSAUGA #8 — Mississauga #8’s Kaylem Daybutch was recently recognized with one of six 2018 and 2019 James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Awards for his story about a youth with schizophrenia.
“I wanted to bring awareness to mental health but I didn’t want to do it in a non-creative sense,” says Daybutch, who was recognized in the Senior On-Reserve category. “My story is exceptional because my story is about a kid with schizophrenia, but my point still stands and that was: how can I bring awareness to this issue but do it in a creative way where it doesn’t seem like I’m just spitting facts at them?”
Daybutch says it took him a few attempts to write the story, noting that he often has the characters in his mind before writing a story.
“I didn’t want it to be a happy story — the end goal wasn’t to leave you feeling good,” Daybutch says. “I wanted to create this kid that was just like everybody else. I wanted a character that everyone could, in some way, relate to.”
Daybutch says he did research on schizophrenia to prepare for writing the story, noting he included information on the symptoms and medication used to treat the disease.
“I talk about what he hears, what he sees,” Daybutch says. “Those are a little dramatized for the story, but I tried to make it relatively as real as I could.”
Daybutch says much of his inspiration, drive and creativity comes from his father, Damian Daybutch, who is also a writer.
“It only inspires me to want to create my own,” Daybutch says. “When it came time to write a creative piece for this award when I wrote it back in 2018, the process was there.”
Daybutch says the idea for the story came to him while he was out on the deck.
“I sat down and typed everything that came to my mind first and then I tweaked it,” Daybutch says, noting that he writes better during the late-night hours from 2-6 a.m. “It hit me at midnight and I didn’t stop writing until four or five that morning. And I spent the next week rewriting, editing, tweaking, making sure it was tight and coherent.”
Daybutch says the editing process is his favourite part of writing a story because it’s like putting a puzzle together, figuring out which pieces go where and which to keep out.
“It’s just like a massive puzzle you’ve got to put together, and that’s the fun of it because you don’t always know what the final product is going to look like,” Daybutch says. “You have an idea for one thing and the final product could be totally opposite of what you actually had in mind, and to me, that is the most fun part of being a creative person — I have a vision but it doesn’t mean that’s actually going to be what the final product is, and that is just so fascinating to me.”
The other James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Award recipients were: Mya Dixon from Sandy Lake in the Senior Fly-In category; Mikaela Allen from Newmarket in the Junior Off-Reserve category; Ariel Wendling from Port Colborne in the Senior Off-Reserve category; Pearson Meeseetawageesic from Eabamet Lake in the Junior Fly-In category; and Denyce Sandy from Kenora in the Junior On-Reserve category.
“Each year, I am inspired by the powerful submissions that are put forward by young Indigenous writers from across the province,” says Bartleman, a Chippewas of Rama citizen and former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. “These six recipients have bravely shared their stories with us, exemplifying courage and strength. Their unique perspectives are essential to improving the understanding of Indigenous communities in Ontario.”