The Irish Writers Centre is taking on the stewardship of the National Mentoring Programme
The Irish Writers Centre is taking on the stewardship of the National Mentoring Programme for literature after five successful years under Words Ireland management.
“Mentorship, formal or informal, has allowed professional writers to hand on their craft and experience to the next generation. I believe it to be a highly effective intervention for a writer to grow in confidence and in their writing craft,” said Valiere Bistany, Director of the IWC.
Connecting writers
“The National Mentoring Programme has formalised that process, ensuring professional writers get paid for their work, and that new, emerging and early career writers learn from the best Irish writers today,” she said.
“It chimes perfectly with our ongoing endeavours to connect writers with each other in communities across the island, and to pay professional writers adequately for their work.”
Irish writers who currently mentor with the NMP include Wendy Erksine, Dave Rudden and Elaine Feeney.
Since 2017, over 120 mentees have benefitted from the programme, including Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Victoria Kennefick and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe.
Surpassing expectations
“The programme is going brilliantly for me – surpassing all my expectations! Siobhán [Campbell] is really wonderful – a great reader and critic but also so professional in her approach and very generous with her time, insights, materials and communications,” said current mentee Monica Wallace.
The window for applications from mentees will open again on 1 April 2022 and closes at 5pm on Monday 2nd May 2022.
Co-funded initiative
The initiative is co-funded by a wide range of county arts offices, arts centres and other organisations who guarantee that one or more writers from their counties are supported through the programme – currently 25+ mentorships per year.
These supporting bodies include Dublin City Libraries, Kildare Arts Office and Mayo Arts Office.
The NMP is mainly funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, who have increased their support this year allowing for 8 mentorships for writers nationwide.
For the third year in a row, the Colombian Embassy in Ireland will support a Colombian writer to mentor an Irish writer selected from any county.
