2026 Program—Poetry (Including Hybrid Forms)
Deadline: Wednesday, October 29, 2025, 4:59 pm ET
The 2026 Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship for Underrepresented Writers is accepting applications from emerging and aspiring writers and literary artists. This year’s mentorship will be in poetry and is open to writers working in any poetic form, including mixed-genre and hybrid forms. The 2026 mentor will be poet Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch.
A component of QWF’s Fresh Pages Diversity Initiative, the mentorship is designed to help an aspiring Quebec-based writer or literary artist who is Indigenous, Black, or a person of colour to develop their craft and transition to the next stage of their career.
The 2026 mentorship will go to an aspiring writer who has a demonstrated interest in poetry or mixed-genre or hybrid forms. The selected writer will work with the mentor over the course of four months (February through May 2026) and participate in a public reading in early June 2026, alongside the other participants of the 2026 QWF Mentorship Program. Applicants should be prepared to dedicate at least 15 to 20 hours per week to their writing during that period. The selected writer will receive an $800 honorarium and a free one-year membership in QWF.
The 2026 Mentor: Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch is a mixed-Arab writer, editor, and translator living in Tio’tia:ke. Their first book, knot body, was published by Metatron Press in 2020. Their second book, The Good Arabs, published by Metonymy Press in 2022, was granted the honorary mention for poetry by the Arab American Book Awards, received the Khayrallah Prize honorary mention, and won the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal. Their translation of Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay’s La fille d’elle-même from the French, Dandelion Daughter, was published in 2023 and was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. With co-editor Samia Marshy, they edited El Ghourabaa, an anthology of queer and trans writing by Arab and Arabophone writers, published by Metonymy Press in June 2024. In October and November 2024, they were the writer-in-residence at the Arab American National Museum.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Applicants must live in Quebec and be Indigenous, Black, or a person of colour.
- Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in poetry and/or any kind of mixed-genre or hybrid literary work (for example, prose poetry, lyric essays, or intermedia)
- Applicants must be able to devote at least 15 to 20 hours a month to their writing from February to May 2026.
- There is no age or publication requirement.
- Preference will be given to those who are not currently enrolled in a graduate writing program or working with a professional editor or publisher.
Timeline:
- Call for applications: September 16, 2025
- Deadline for applications: October 29, 2025, 4:59 pm ET
- Notification of results: By December 19, 2025
- Mentorship period: February 1, 2026 to May 31, 2026
- Public reading: June 2026
How to Apply:
Send the following to john@qwf.org, or mail it to or drop it off at the QWF office (address below):
- A cover letter describing the writing you’ve done so far and how the mentorship would make a difference in your writing life (maximum one page)
- A 5- to 10-page sample of your writing, ideally from the project you want to work on with the mentor
- A short statement about your background and writing experience, including the reason you are eligible for this initiative
- Your full name and a way to contact you
Address for mail submissions:
Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship
Quebec Writers’ Federation
1200 Atwater Ave., Suite 3
Westmount, QC H3Z 1X4
About Mairuth Sarsfield
Mairuth Sarsfield (1925-2013) was born and raised in the Little Burgundy district of Montreal. She achieved distinction in every arena she entered: as a best-selling novelist and a journalist; working for Canada’s External Affairs Department at home and abroad; serving as press secretary for the Canadian delegation to the United Nations and as a senior information officer for the United Nations Environment Programme based in Nairobi, Kenya. She also served on the Board of Directors of the CBC. Among the many awards and honours she received are the Chevalier à l’Ordre national du Québec, the National Congress of Black Women Foundation’s First Literary Award for her novel No Crystal Stair, and the declaration of “Mairuth Sarsfield Day” by the City of Cleveland for her work on the “For Every Child a Tree” environmental campaign, which led to thousands of tree-planting projects around the world.
These accomplishments were nothing short of remarkable for any woman in twentieth-century North America. The fact that Mairuth Sarsfield achieved them, and more, as a Black woman, ensures her role as an inspiration for all future generations of young people from marginalized communities. With this mentorship program, the Quebec Writers’ Federation is proud to shine a spotlight on Ms. Sarsfield’s life and contributions to her city, her country, and the world.