Writers' Trust and RBC Announce Beneficiaries of New Mentorship Program

The Writers' Trust of Canada, in partnership with RBC, has announced the beneficiaries of their new mentorship program.

The program, which pairs young, developing writers with more established authors, provides new writers with the opportunity to have one-on-one support and guidance from their mentor as they work on their manuscripts.

“Young writers gain immense value when an experienced artist is able to share their wisdom and work with them to improve their writing skills,” said Charlie Foran, executive director, Writers’ Trust of Canada. “It is widely understood that the industry is in need of more mentorship programs, and we are pleased to be working with RBC to help foster and nurture these vital relationships within the literary community.”

Applicants for the program are divided into three streams: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, with mentors choosing only one mentee from from each category. Those chosen are each provided with $2500 to help finance their five-month mentorship.

For fiction, filmmaker and writer Jamaluddin Aram will work on his manuscript under the mentorship of Greenwood author Michael Christie. Aram's book, "On the Hill the Graves", is a collection of eight interconnected stories set in a Kabul neighbourhood during Afghanistan's civil war.

For poetry, Rhiannon Ng will work under the mentorship of Griffin Prize-winner Liz Howard as she continues her project "where does your light leak", a collection of poems exploring genealogy, emigration, and identity.

For creative nonfiction, Hamilton-based writer Lishai Peel will will work on her parenting memoir "Motherhood & Other Mishaps" under the mentorship of writer and teacher Ayelet Tsabari, whose essay collection The Art of Leaving was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

For more information on the Writers' Trust Mentorship program, visit their website