Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers

The WritersNL Mentorship program is designed to serve the needs of emerging Newfoundland & 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 for 2026/27 has expanded, rebounding from two last year to six this year. Potential apprentices can apply to work with mentors in the following categories:

• Drama – mentored by Santiago Guzmán 
• Historical Fiction – mentored by Trudy Morgan-Cole
• Non-fiction – mentored by Ainsley Hawthorn
• The Novel – mentored by Shelly Kawaja
• Poetry – mentored by Matthew Hollett
• Short Fiction – mentored by Susie Taylor

(Mentor profiles below.)

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 and professional development of their writing and who meet the criteria outlined below:

• WritersNL members in good standing with a substantial work-in-progress in any genre (individuals interested in mentorship can become WritersNL Members upon submitting their apprentice applications);
• Individuals prepared for a disciplined, focused period of work during which writing is a priority;
• Individuals who have not used generative AI or any LLM or computer program to create their work;
• Individuals who did not participate in this program in the previous two cycles;
• Individuals 19-years-of-age and older.

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.

How to apply as an apprentice: 

To apply for an apprentice position, please submit the following:

• A typewritten, double-spaced, ten-page sample of your work (poetry and drama submissions are exempt from the double-spacing requirement);
  • include length of manuscript to date (i.e., word count or number of poems);
• A declaration of which mentor you are applying to work with and why;
• A statement of what you hope to achieve during the mentorship and how you think it will assist you with your manuscript;
• A summary of your recent writing history, how long you’ve been writing, and your publication credits, if any.

Send your submission as a .doc or .pdf file to director@writersnl.ca by the deadline of Friday, September 4, 2026 at 4 p.m. NL time.

Selection Process: 

The selection committee jury will match mentors and apprentices to work on a one-to-one basis over an intensive five-month period beginning in October 2026. Decisions for the mentor application will be made on the basis of the best-suited match between the apprentice and the mentor. (Please note: Jury decisions are final and both WritersNL and jurors will be unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications.)

Notes:  

• Late submissions will not be accepted.
• Ineligible and/or incomplete submissions will not be accepted or returned.

Anyone seeking further information about the WritersNL Mentorship Program for Emerging Writers should email info@writersnl.ca.

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Mentor Profiles

Santiago Guzmán, mentoring Drama

Santiago Guzmán is an award-winning playwright, dramaturge, performer, and director originally from Mexico, calling Newfoundland and Labrador home. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of TODOS Productions & the Artistic Director of Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre.

Santiago’s work as a writer aims to put local, under-represented narratives and characters on the frontlines, whilst inviting audiences to appreciate the vibrancy of Newfoundland and Labrador from a diverse perspective.

Their work as a writer has been supported, developed and/or produced by theatre companies and festivals such as TODOS Productions (NL), Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company (NL), White Rooster Theatre (NL), Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland (NL), Poverty Cove Theatre Company (NL), Rising Tide Theatre (NL), Neighbourhood Dance Works (NL), Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Neptune Theatre and Neptune Theatre School (NS), Eastern Front Theatre (NS), PARC (pan-Atlantic), Ship’s Company Theatre (NS), Theatre New Brunswick (NB), the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 (NS), Boca Del Lupo (BC), Paprika Festival (ON), Stratford Festival (ON), Lemontree Creations (ON), Banff Playwrights Lab (AB) and the National Theatre School of Canada’s Art Apart Program (QC). He is a member of Playwrights Canada Press’s inaugural editorial committee.

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Trudy Morgan-Cole, mentoring Historical Fiction

Trudy Morgan-Cole is a novelist from St. John’s, Newfoundland. She has written several works of historical fiction focusing on the experiences of Newfoundland women, including By the Rivers of Brooklyn, That Forgetful Shore, A Sudden Sun, Most Anything You Please, and the Cupids Trilogy. In addition to writing novels, Trudy dabbles in short fiction, playwriting, and podcasting. Her audio drama podcast, Terra Arcana, is streaming now on all podcast platforms, and her new novel, Beyond the Brightening Sea, will be released by Breakwater Books in Fall 2026.

Trudy explains her philosophy as seeing “a mentor’s role as distinct from that of an editor or even an evaluator, though evaluation is a part of the process. As a mentor, I want to help an emerging writer find their own way through their story and learn to identify and overcome obstacles that may stand in the way of their doing that.”

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Ainsley Hawthorn, mentoring Non-Fiction

Ainsley Hawthorn is an award-winning nonfiction author and cultural historian who writes about forgotten events, curious folklore, and the surprising connections between past and present. Since earning her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale, she’s published more than 160 general-interest articles on history, psychology, and society in venues like National Geographic, The Washington Post, CBC, and Psychology Today. Her writing has been translated into eight languages, licensed for use in textbooks and standardized tests, cited in a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, and generously funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, ArtsNL, and the City of St. John’s. Her anthology Land of Many Shores: Perspectives from a Diverse Newfoundland and Labrador (Breakwater Books) was named one of Top Ten NL Books of 2021 by Joan Sullivan (The Telegram).

Ainsley served as a writing fellow at Yale and has since taught classes and workshops on nonfiction, pitching, and the business of writing. In addition to working with a mentee on their manuscript, she is happy to provide insight into navigating the publishing industry, applying for grants, and seeking an agent.

Ainsley sums her mentorship approach with: “My role as a mentor isn’t to impose my tastes on a mentee’s work but to help them develop the version of their project that best meets their own ambitions. I’ve trained in anti-racist, 2SLGBTQIA+, and neurodivergent storytelling so I can support writers with a diverse array of life experiences.”

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Shelly Kawaja, mentoring The Novel

Shelly Kawaja is a fiction writer, editor, and teacher. Her debut novel, The Raw Light of Morning, won the BMO Winterset Award and was a finalist for the NL Fiction Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Riddle Fence, Newfoundland Quarterly, Horseshoe, The Humber Literary Review, The Dalhousie Review, and PACE. Shelly is an alumnus of the University of British Columbia, the Humber School for Writers, and Memorial University of Newfoundland. She lives in Corner Brook with her family.

Shelly explains her process: “At its core, my pedagogy begins with meeting students where they are intellectually and emotionally, nudging them forward, then encouraging them to rigorously push themselves to move beyond what they initially believed themselves capable.”

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Matthew Hollett, Mentoring Poetry

Matthew Hollett is a writer and photographer in St. John’s, Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk). His work explores landscape and memory through photography, writing and walking. Optic Nerve, a collection of poems about photography and visual perception, was published by Brick Books in 2023. It was shortlisted for the J.M. Abraham Poetry Award, and longlisted for the BMO Winterset Award. Matthew won the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize, and has previously received the NLCU Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers and The Fiddlehead’s Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem. He is a graduate of the MFA program at NSCAD University.

As a graduate of the Mentorship Program himself, Matthew says: “I’m lucky to have had many great teachers over my lifetime, and the ones I valued the most were those who took the time to listen and ask questions, and who really sought to understand what I was trying to say in my work. I would certainly hope to do the same for anyone I mentor.”

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Susie Taylor, mentoring Short Fiction

Susie Taylor is a queer writer who lives in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. She is the author of two books, Even Weirder Than Before and Vigil. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines across Canada including Geist, PRISM International, The Fiddlehead, and Room Magazine. In 2025, Vigil won the BMO Winterset Award for Fiction, and the Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction. It was a finalist for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. In 2015 she was the winner of the NLCU Fresh Fish award for emerging writers. Taylor is the associate fiction editor at Riddle Fence Magazine.

In Susie’s own words: “My philosophy as a mentor is to instill a healthy approach to literary life that emphasizes practice and progress over product and fosters resilience. As a mentor, I would draw on my own experience and cultivate a respectful and generous dialogue about writing that is directed towards the mentee’s specific needs.”

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