Are you a Nunavik songwriter with perseverance? Enter here

Nunavik singer/songwriter Beatrice Deer is the spokeswoman for a new songwriting campaign that encourages other Nunavik songwriters to compose a piece about perseverance.

If you’re Nunavik Inuk and you’ve got a song to sing, there’s a contest with your name on it.

Esuma, Nunavik’s multi-partner stay-in-school project, is looking for musicians in the region to compose an original song about the benefits of persevering.

The song should encourage positivity and school success, said the contest’s spokesman, Quaqtaq-raised singer/songwriter Beatrice Deer.

“Life can be challenging; it holds many obstacles that can be difficult to overcome,” Deer said in a new video produced by Esuma and Nunavik’s Aumaaggivik Arts Secretariat.

“It can lead us down the wrong path. But life is also a beautiful gift that is given to each and every one of us.

And that’s where perseverance comes in, said Deer — it goes hand in hand with the life you choose to lead.

“I haven’t had an easy life,” she said, “and it took a lot perseverance to get to where I am today.”

Songwriting contestants should be James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement beneficiaries, although non-beneficiaries can co-write.

The song should be original, “energetic” in nature and the lyrics should be at least 50 per cent Inuktitut.

Songwriters can submit their entries to beatricedeer@avataq.qc.ca or by a message to the Aumaaggivik Facebook page by March 21.

The contest winner will receive $1,000 and an all expense paid trip to record their song in a professional studio.

You can watch Deer’s video by clicking the link below.