We’ve all grown inured to the homeless. It may be a defense mechanism on our part, but we’ve learned to harden our hearts as the number of homeless on the streets of Toronto grows steadily. It’s good to be reminded occasionally that being homeless does not preclude being thoughtful and creative. The writers in this publication, many of them homeless and affiliated with Toronto’s Fred Victor Centre, contribute poetry, fiction and real-life accounts of their lives, to provide us with a human face on those undifferentiated bodies we walk past every day. It’s a worthy endeavour. #6 has as its special focus mental health issues and given the increasing number of mentally ill individuals unable to get the help they need under this provincial government, and who are turfed onto the street, it’s certainly timely. Many of these articles are written by people with their own mental health issues, some are taken from historic poetry and literature. The result is proof of what gets blocked by our misconceptions: that those people with mental disturbances can be as creative and intelligent as anyone else. This issue helps to break down our prejudices. (KR)
zine, #5, #6, 60 pgs, free, Fred Victor Centre, 145 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K6