Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers Mentoring Program
About the program
The South Coast Writers Centre is excited to announce its 2022-2023 Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers Mentoring Program.
In each round, the SCWC is offering up to four mentorships to early stage or emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers living on the South Coast of NSW.
Writers will have the opportunity to be mentored to increase their technical and creative skills as they work on the development of a literary work. Each writer will have five one-hour consultations (via Zoom or as arranged) with their mentor, who will read and provide feedback on up to 5,000 words of work submitted prior to each of four of the consultations. The writers will also receive personalised support and tailored access to relevant SCWC workshops and/or events.
This program runs in association with the Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) Indigenous Literary Program of the South Coast Writers Centre, with advice on cultural matters from Wadi Wadi elder Aunty Barbara Nicholson.
The program is supported by funding from the Australia Council for the Arts RISE fund.
ABOUT THE MENTOR
Program leader and mentor is local writer Judi Morison. Judi has Gamilaroi and Celtic heritage and is a member of the First Nations Australia Writers Network and the Australian Society of Authors. A member of the Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) Indigenous Literary Project and editorial assistant for Dreaming Inside: Voices from Junee Correctional Centre, she led South Coast Writers Centre’s 2021 Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers Mentoring Program.
She has an MA in Creative Writing, and her short fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry has been published in a wide range of literary journals, including UTS Writers’ Anthology and SCWC’s Legacies. Her historical novel manuscript won a 2020 Queensland Writers Centre’s Publishable mentorship. She was the 2022 holder of the Writing NSW’s Boundless Indigenous Writers Mentorship Award.
Criteria
Please note that these mentorships are only available to:
early stage or emerging writers aged 18+
writing fiction, non-fiction or poetry
who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and,
who live in the following LGAs: Wollongong, Kiama, Shellharbour, Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Bega Valley and Wingecarribee.
All applicants should be financial members of SCWC. If you do not have the financial means to pay for membership, SCWC’s Hardship Policy can assist you. Please contact us for more details.
Applications
To apply for a mentorship, complete the application form below.
Current round of applications closes 21st March 2023
Enquires can be made at any time and start dates will be negotiated between mentee and mentor.
Mentoring Fees
Mentoring incurs a fee, which will contribute to SCWC’s ability to offer the mentorship program on an ongoing basis. Fees can be paid upfront or in instalments. The scale of fees is:
Waged: $ 400, Concession/Unwaged/Students: $200, Hardship:$0