Activities / Programs

Mentorship

The 2022 QWF Writing
Mentorship Program
and the
Karin Montin LTAC/QWF
Mentorship in Literary Translation

Applications for the 2022 programs are now open. Please see below for information on eligibility and updates.

If you are a writer who is Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Colour, you may be eligible for The Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship program.

The QWF Writing Mentorships and the Karin Montin LTAC/QWF Mentorship in Literary Translation are designed to help promising emerging writers and translators make the transition to the next stage of their careers. Both mentors and mentees are selected by an independent jury.

Over a period of four months (February to May), each mentee gets one-on-one guidance and support from a professional writing mentor. At the end of the mentorship period, there is a public reading at which the mentees present their work in progress.

Mentors are expected to devote 35 to 40 hours to reading and responding to their protégé’s work and giving guidance towards the goal of publication or production. Mentees are expected to commit a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per month to the program.

Timeline

  • Call for applications: September 2021
  • Deadline for applications: October 15, 2021
  • Notification of results: December 15, 2021 (for mentors), December 10, 2021 (for mentees)
  • Mentorship period: Four months (February 1, 2022 to May 31, 2022) with a public reading in June 2022

The Fresh Pages Initiative: The Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship

The Quebec Writers’ Federation is delighted to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship. The mentorship, which is a component of QWF’s “Fresh Pages” initiative, is designed to help an aspiring writer or playwright who is Indigenous, Black or a person of colour to develop their literary writing.

The mentorship will go to a Quebec-based writer who will work with their mentor over the course of four months (February through May 2022) and participate in a public reading in June 2022.

More information here

Watch the 2021 QWF Mentorship Reading on Youtube
[Pairs in Anti-Clockwise] Fiction: Geeta Johal (mentee), Leila Marshy (mentor); Non-fiction: Suzanne Cerreta (mentee), Robyn Sarah (mentor); Poetry: Jess Tran (mentee), Yusuf Saadi (mentor); Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship—Fiction: Lynda Bailey (mentee), H. Nigel Thomas (mentor); YA Fiction: Becca Yu (mentee), David Homel (mentor); Screenwriting: Dara Murphy (mentee), Jacob Potashnik (mentor); Fiction: Miki Laval (mentee), Claire Holden Rothman (mentor).

2021 Program Pairings

2021 Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship Program – Fiction
H. Nigel Thomas is mentoring Lynda Bailey

Fiction
Leila Marshy is mentoring Geeta Johal
Claire Holden Rothman is mentoring Miki Laval

Non-fiction
Robyn Sarah is mentoring Suzanne Cerreta

Young Adult Fiction
David Homel is mentoring Becca Yu

Screenwriting
Jacob Potashnik is mentoring Dara Murphy

Poetry
Yusuf Saadi is mentoring Jess Tran

Past Mentorship Program Pairs

2020

Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship – Poetry: Gillian Sze mentored Faith Paré
Fiction: April Ford mentored Lukas Rowland; Robert Sandiford mentored Michael Foy; Non-fiction: Ian McGillis mentored Carolyn McPherson; Poetry: Mark Abley mentored Andrew Middleton; Young Adult Fiction: Sue MacLeod mentored Maureen Marovitch; Lori Weber mentored Lea Beddia.

Today