Writers' Programs
The QWF is pleased to announce the following 2013 Mentorship Program pairs:
The call for applications to the 2014 mentorship program will be posted on this website in the fall of 2013.
Exchange with the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia
This year for the first time, we are exchanging mentors with the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS). One of our mentors will travel to Nova Scotia at the beginning and the end of the four-month period to meet his or her assigned protégé and attend the end-of-program reading. The WFNS will also arrange at least one reading or workshop for the mentor while in Nova Scotia. In exchange, a WFNS mentor will come to Montreal twice, to meet with his or her protégé and to attend QWF’s Mentorship Reading. Between trips, the writers will work via email and Skype.
This exchange is made possible by the generous support of The Writers’ Trust of Canada.
The QWF Mentorship program is designed to help promising emerging writers make the transition to the next stage of their careers. Over a period of approximately four months, mentors are expected to devote 35 to 40 hours to reading and responding to their protegé’s work and giving guidance towards the goal of publication or production. Protegés are expected to commit a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per month to the program. Remuneration for mentors is $1200. The only cost to protegés is a $25 non-refundable application fee. The call for applications happens once a year, in the fall, with an early December deadline.
This program is intended for writers who do not have other resources at hand for professional mentorship. As such, students currently in writing programs and authors working with a professional editor/publisher are not eligible for this program.Both mentors and mentees will be selected by an independent jury. There is no guarantee that all genres will be included in the final pairings. Depending on geographical location, some of the Quebec mentorships may also be conducted primarily by email, Skype and telephone.
Writers in the Community
Writers in the Community, which the QWF runs in collaboration with the Centre for Literacy of Quebec, brings the literary arts to young people who are left out of the artistic mainstream. Past and present partners include Mountainview High School, Dawson Alternative School, Vanguard Intercultural School, Elizabeth House, Ste Rose, BUMP, Val d’Or Community Learning Centre, O3 Les maisons transitionelles, Batshaw Youth and Family Services, LEARN Community Learning Centre Initiative, NDG Community Council, Jeunesse 2000, Head & Hands, Leave Out ViolencE, Tyndale St-Georges Community Centre, the Jewish General Hospital, and VOYCE (Voices Of Youth in Care).
Click on the image above to see the Writers in the Community web page, where you'll find a music video, audio tracks, and poems created by participants in the Writers in the Community Program.
Writers in Schools
The Culture in the Schools program gives students and teachers the opportunity to meet a professional writer in the classroom to exchange ideas about writing, language and literature, or various aspects of the writing profession. They may also participate in writing workshops.
The program is intended for students of Quebec public and private educational institutions in the French-language and English-language sectors, at the pre-school, primary and secondary levels. For a complete repertoire of writers eligible to participate in the program, see the program web site.
Any questions about the Writers in Schools program should be directed to ecrivez@uneq.qc.ca.
Writers in CEGEPs
The Quebec Writers' Federation is responsible for revising the list of writers eligible to participate in the Quebec Writers-in-Cegeps program. Modeled after the successful Writers-in-Schools program and financed by the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications, this program sends writers on day-long visits to Cegeps throughout the province. English-language Cegeps are the primary audience, but French-language Cegeps are also encouraged to invite English-language writers. (Each Cegep can invite two writers per school year.)
Writers receive an honorarium of $500 per day for a day of readings and lectures, or a day of writing workshops, and $400 per day for a day of meetings and discussions. Of this, the Cegep pays $100, while the rest comes from the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
For more information, please click on the appropriate link below:
- Apply to have a writer visit your CEGEP [PDF]
- General information about the program
- Rules for Reimbursement for Travel and Lodging Costs
- List of Eligible Authors for 2012–2013