*NOTE: This program is currently on hiatus.
The Speculative Literature Foundation offers a mentorship program for beginning writers. These writers will be able to gather valuable advice from more experienced writers regarding the craft and business of writing.
Structure
Each mentor will receive up to five mentees. The mentors will offer advice and answer craft/business questions (both from a SLF facilitator and from the writers themselves). Please note: this is not a workshop, and mentors will not read or comment on individual writing from their mentees.
Applicants may indicate a preference for a particular mentor, but we cannot guarantee that you will be matched with that mentor. Once matched, you will be added to a mailing list with your mentor and the other mentees in your group.
Conversations on that mailing list are to be kept private and confidential. At the end of the program, participants are required to write a one-page evaluation of the program, and a brief evaluation of their mentor.
Mentors: Spring 2006 Pilot Program, Mar 15 – Jun 15
Mentors: Autumn Program, August 1 – October 31 2006
- Leah Cutter is the author of three historical fantasy novels as well as several fantasy, science fiction and horror short stories. Her most recent novel is The Jaguar and the Wolf (Roc 2005). She’s lived all over the world, including Hungary and Taiwan, and now resides in Seattle, WA with her cat and many books. She supports herself and her writing habit by doing technical writing for a California-based software company. Her website appears at http://www.leahcutter.com.
- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu‘s first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, was published in 2005 by Houghton Mifflin. It will be published in Nigeria in 2007 by Kachifo Ltd. Her second novel, Ejii the Shadow Speaker, will be published by Hyperion Books for Children in 2007. Her short story, The Chaos Magician’s Mega Chemistry Set will be published in Space and Time Magazine’s 100th issue in 2006. Nnedi is currently finishing her PhD in English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is also a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop (2001).
- Jenn Reese lives in Los Angeles, where she studies martial arts, plays strategy games, and sits in traffic. She’s a 1999 Clarion workshop survivor and her stories have appeared in Polyphony, Flytrap, and various DAW anthologies, as well as online at Strange Horizons and Lone Star Stories. Her first novel, Jade Tiger, is forthcoming from Juno Books. Her website appears atwww.jennreese.com.
- Ben Rosenbaum has been a finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, and Sturgeon awards. His stories have appeared in Asimov’s, F&t;SF, Harper’s, Nature, McSweeney’s, YBSF, YBFH, and other publications.
- John Scalzi is the author of 10 books, including the Hugo-nominated Old Man’s War and its sequelThe Ghost Brigades, the astronomy handbook The Rough Guide to the Universe, and the best-selling Book of the Dumb humor series. His work has also appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, theDayton Daily News, Jungle magazine, the Official US PlayStation Magazine and others. Scalzi Consulting, his writing/editing shop, consults for online and financial institutions such as AOL, Network Solutions, US Trust and Oppenheimer Funds. He enjoys pie.
How to Apply
- Send a one-page bio and personal statement as an attached Word .doc or .rtf (Rich Text Format) to mentorship@speclit.org. This will serve as your introduction to your mentor and the group, if you are selected for the program.
- Indicate if you have a preference for a particular mentor.
- There is no fee for application, but if admitted, participants in the program will be charged a small fee ($15 – $30 sliding scale).
Thank you!
– Mary Anne Mohanraj, Director, SLF