Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 12/04) - By day, Dr. Mike Mulherin does his best to keep Inuvik residents healthy. By night, the photographer and writer keeps himself busy with various projects.

His latest extracurricular adventure, an idea hatched with colleague Jason Watt, is to collect enough stories -- fiction and non-fiction -- and poetry about the Dempster Highway to put together a book in celebration of its 25th anniversary this year.

"I don't care if you've been published a thousand times or never been published before," he said about potential contributors.

The tentative deadline for submissions is May 1 and the opportunity to contribute is open to everyone.

"It's a local, non-profit project and we're happy to accept writing from anybody with a Dempster story to tell," said Mulherin.

Mulherin says he especially wants to seek out stories from elders and students.

"It isn't restricted to stories about the highway. If you've got a story about the region (the highway passes through) then send it along," he said.

Bob Mumford, winner of the recent Yukon portion of CBC's Great Canadian Poetry Face Off, says he's going to contribute to the project and hopes others will do the same.

"I think it's a great idea. I've heard some interesting stories about how the town was built and I'd love to hear some from people who actually worked to build the highway," he said.