Alistair MacLeod
Mentorship Program
The Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program was made possible by the late Alistair MacLeod, who generously donated the protégé portion of his 2001 Portia White Prize to the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia to ensure the continuation of its mentorship pilot program. Alistair MacLeod's passing on April 20, 2014, was mourned by the Atlantic literary community, but we continue to lean on and grow from his books, his teaching, his steadfast friendships, and his commitment to his home province.
Since 2001, the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program has supported the development of emerging writers in Nova Scotia who are on the cusp of professional publication and who are committed to their writing and creative development. It is a disciplined, focused, and supportive one-on-one apprenticeship program through which writers expand and hone their craft.
Through this program, WFNS pairs professional authors with emerging writers, matching the experience and craft of mentoring authors’ with the project goals and manuscripts of apprentice writers. Writers from across Nova Scotia — with projects in all genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children or young adults — are welcome to apply.
The program helps emerging writers overcome barriers to their growth and development, provides mentoring authors with an opportunity to refine their mentorship and instructional skills, and reaffirms the creative conviction of everyone involved.
Mentors and apprentices work together over a three-month period—March, April, and May—meeting regularly and conducting follow-up exchanges via email. These relationships are enriched through regular apprentice-only and program-wide meetings.
- Each mentor-apprentice pair meets weekly, bi-weekly, or every three weeks (for 12 to 13 hours total), with the precise schedule determined by the pair.
- All apprentices meet bi-weekly (for 5 or 6 meetings total) to discuss their challenges, share their progress, and develop a supportive writing network.
- All mentors and apprentices in the program meet in late February (to review program details and begin scheduling), in early April (to check in at the program’s mid-point), and in mid May (to prepare for the capstone event).
Meetings are generally conducted virtually, though any mentor-apprentice pair has the option of meeting in-person.
The MacLeod Mentorship Program concludes in early June with in-person and video readings by apprentices, performed and screened as part of WFNS’s annual public Celebration of Emerging Writers in Halifax.
WFNS promotes this reading and the mentorship participants widely in order to encourage public engagement with new writers and showcase the program’s role in building capacity in Nova Scotia’s writing community.
There is no cost to an apprentice beyond WFNS General Membership dues and the program application fee—but the benefit of sustained work with a professional author provides value long after the program has ended.
Hear about the impact of the MacLeod Mentorship Program first-hand.
Carmel Mikol (host of Hyacinth Podcast) interviews 2016 participants Carol Bruneau (mentor) and Nicola Davison (apprentice) about the benefits of the program and how it helped them write two award-winning novels.
Investors
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia acknowledges the Canada Council for the Arts for its ongoing investment in the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program.
