2022-23 Mentorship Program

(Are you experiencing technical issues when registering for this event? Email WritersNL’s Member Services and Communications Coordinator Helena Elueme at membership@writersnl.ca for help.)

Meet the 2022 Mentor + Mentee Pairings!

(August 31, 2022) – WritersNL is ecstatic to announce the pairings of our 2022 Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers.   

The WritersNL Emerging Writers Mentorship program is designed to serve the needs of emerging Newfoundland and Labrador writers who are committed to the development of their writing. It is aimed at writers who are on the cusp of professional publication and who have a substantial work-in-progress.

The Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers program is made available through generous funding by the Canada Council for the Arts.

To facilitate this program, WritersNL accepted applications in two rounds for two positions: mentors and mentees. The 2022 mentors were selected by a jury, and mentorship pairings were also facilitated by a jury.

We are happy to announce the 2022 Mentorship Pairings are:

• Bridget Canning + Mado Christie
• Douglas Walbourne-Gough + Paul Moorehead
• Tracey Waddleton + Kira Sheppard
• Agnes Walsh + Monique Tobin 

For more information on the mentors, please click here!

Meet the Mentees!

Mado Christie
Mado Christie is a writer and classical pianist living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Their fiction has appeared in Acta Victoriana and The Spectatorial, and they were a founding editor of Augur Magazine. They teach and work at the School of Music at Memorial University, and perform regularly in collaboration with other musicians and arts organizations in the city. When not writing or playing, Mado can usually be found cooking, reading, or catering to their cat Penny’s every whim.

Paul Moorehead
Paul Moorehead is a physician and emerging writer living in St. John’s. His poetry will appear in Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts, and his creative nonfiction has appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal and the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Kira Sheppard
Kira Sheppard (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in St. John’s, NL. She works with the mediums of writing, music and theatre performance. Kira is currently working on her fourth studio album and a collection of short stories.

Monique Tobin
Monique Tobin is a writer, researcher and journalist who has worked with CBC Radio and Television and in independent documentary film production. She is volunteer Chair of the St. John’s Public Libraries Board and a mother of four.

WritersNL Mentorship Program 2022: Mentor Listing & Call for Mentee Submissions 

(June 30, 2022) – WritersNL is now accepting mentee applications from individuals interested in its 2022 Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers.

WritersNL Mentorship Program 2022: Call for Mentor Submissions!

(April 18, 2022) – WritersNL is now accepting mentor applications from individuals interested in its 2022 Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers.  

The WritersNL Emerging Writers Mentorship program is designed to serve the needs of emerging Newfoundland and Labrador writers who are committed to the development of their writing. It is aimed at writers who are on the cusp of professional publication and who have a substantial work-in-progress.

“The Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers is one of WritersNL’s  flagship offerings,” WritersNL President Ainsley Hawthorn shares.
“In 2022, with generous funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and after a thorough review of the program by a committee of dedicated volunteers, we’re pleased to be piloting a new approach to selecting mentors and apprentices for this opportunity. We encourage all members to have a look at the updated program guidelines, and we look forward to providing a revitalized version of this popular program in the years to come.”

The Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers program is made available through generous funding by the Canada Council for the Arts.

To facilitate this program, WritersNL will accept applications in two rounds for two positions: mentors and apprentices.  

The mentor position is for writers with a history of publication and a commitment to the craft of writing. The deadline for Mentor submission is Friday, May 20th at 5 p.m. NST.

An assembled committee will select four mentors for the 2022 Mentorship Program. WANL will announce the four available mentors with a dedicated program page on our website which will include:

• The genre(s) the Mentor is both qualified and willing to work in;

• a short, selected record of publications and awards relevant to the mentorship genres listed above;

• a Mentorship Philosophy Statement;

• any voluntary self-identification (regarding cultural community, sexual orientation, gender, disability) that the Mentor would like to share with potential applicants to the program.

Responsibilities & Remuneration    

• Mentors are expected to contribute 25 hours of one-on-one conferencing, either in person or online—as appropriate;

• 25 hours of reading/prep work over the course of the 5-month membership (Please note: This ratio is flexible and should be adapted to accommodate the needs of individual pairings. Depending on geographical location, some mentorships may be conducted virtually).  

• Mentors will be paid a total of $2,500, spread over two equal installments — one at the beginning and one at the end of the mentorship.

Who can apply as a Mentor? 

• Any WritersNL Member in good standing;
• who has previous mentorship or teaching experience, in either an official or unofficial capacity;
• who did not participate in the program in 2020-21;
• and who qualifies as a “professional artist” according to the criteria laid out in the provincial Status of the Artist Act;

Definition of Professional artist:

        5. A person shall be considered to be a professional artist for the purpose of this Act if that person satisfies 4 of the following criteria, including at least one of the criteria referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c): 
             (a)  the person receives or has received compensation which can be included in professional or business income; 
             (b)  the person has a record of income or loss relevant to the history of his or her work and appropriate to the span of his or her artistic career;
           (c)  the person has received public or peer recognition by publicly disseminated critical reviews or appraisals or by similar means; 
            (d)  the person has presented his or her work to the public by means of exhibitions, publications, screenings, performances, readings or by other means appropriate to the nature of his or her work; 
             (e)  the person is represented by a dealer, publisher, agent or similar professional representative appropriate to the nature of his or her work; 
             (f)  the person devotes a reasonable proportion of his or her professional time to promoting or marketing of his or her work; 
             (g)  the person 
                      (i)  has received professional training in an educational institution from a practitioner recognized in his or her profession, or 
                     (ii)  is self-taught within the established practices of the person’s cultural traditions; 
             (h)  the person has membership in a professional association, appropriate to his or her artistic activity, 
                      (i)  whose membership is or categories of membership are limited under standards of the association, or 
                     (ii)  which is a trade union or equivalent appropriate to his or her artistic activity; and
(i)  the person holds copyright in his or her own work and has received royalty or residual payment based on that copyright.

How to apply:

Who can apply as an apprentice? 

The apprentice position is for writers who have a substantial work-in-progress and who are committed to the creative development of their writing.

• WritersNL members in good standing with a substantial work-in-progress in any genre
• Individuals prepared for a disciplined, focused period of work during which writing is a priority
• Individuals who did not participate in this program in the previous year.
• Individuals 19 years and older

Selections Process   

WritersNL publicizes a call for Apprentices for the coming year’s program when the mentors are announced. In addition to the usual submission requirements, applicants also list their first, second, third, and fourth choices of Mentor from the listing on the WritersNL website. If they have no particular preference, they can elect to have the selection committee assign a pairing.

The committee will then match mentors and apprentices, to work on a one-to-one basis over an intensive five-month period. Decisions for the mentor application will be made on the basis of the best-suited match between the apprentice and the mentor.

WritersNL is committed to greater inclusion of traditionally marginalized communities. In an effort to encourage the development of a more diverse writing community, we strongly encourage applications to the Mentorship Program from all members of Indigenous communities, members of culturally diverse groups, members of disabled communities, and members of official language minorities, whether or not they are current members of WritersNL