Out Loud is a collection of more than fifty essays by people affected by mental illness. There are essays by those who have experienced mental illness themselves, by family and friends, by community members, and by professionals who deal with mental illness. The voices here are ones of hope, pain, and honesty. The true meaning in this collection is found in the willingness of the essayists to step forward and share their experiences in hopes of lessening stigma and broadening the conversation about mental illness.

Ramona Dearing lives in St. John's, Newfoundland. Her poems and short stories have appeared in The Malahat Review, Grain and Prairie Fire, as well as in Oberon's Best Canadian Stories (1997, 1998, and 2001) and Coming Attractions (2001). She is a member of the fiction collective, The Burning Rock, and her fiction is represented along with Lisa Moore's, Michael Winter's, and Claire Wilkshire's in the Burning Rock anthology Hearts Larry Broke. She works for CBC Radio.

Ramona Dearing's profile page

• Winner, Canadian Mental Health Association Media Award
• Short-listed, APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award

"Taboo topic no longer. People grappling with mental illness write frankly about their experiences in [this] book." -The Telegram