NZ Society of Authors 2015 Mentorships - Recipients Announced

24 March 2015

  

Winners have been selected for the hotly contested NZSA Mentorship Programme 2015. A baker’s dozen of emerging writers, poets, memoirists and comic / graphic novelists will spend the next few months honing their skills and developing their craft under the mentorship of some of New Zealand’s finest professional authors and comic / graphic novelists.

The 2015 recipients are: Ann Barrie, Sally Bollinger, Nira C, Courtney Davis, Nod Ghosh, David Horne, Jill McCaw, Eileen Merriman, Kay Meyer, Rory Stewart, Andrew Stiggers, Marion Townsend and Iona Winter. With 75 applications received for 13 mentorships, these mentorships were seriously contested and we congratulate those who succeeded.

Literary Selection Panel convener Joan Rosier-Jones commented that "The quality of the work submitted here was extraordinary. Writing plays a large part in the lives of many New Zealanders today and our thanks are due to Creative New Zealand for supporting this programme which encourages emerging writers".

This was the first year that comic / graphic novelists could apply to this programme and Comic / Graphic Selection Panel convener Dylan Horrocks reported that "The applications showed a high level of potential, and selecting the successful applicants was not easy".

Mentorships are offered by the NZSA every year with the intent of fostering and developing emerging talent with the support of established practitioners. The NZSA has run a highly successful mentoring programme for writers since 1999 and it is supported by funding from Creative New Zealand.

Read more about the 2015 mentees who hail from Newton in Auckland through to Karitane in Otago, and whose stories are as diverse as they are compelling at www.authors.org.nz