Past Program Participants
2024
- Fiction: Chris Benjamin & apprentice Dana Mount
- Fiction: Tom Ryan & apprentice Theo Feehan-Peters (recipient of the Charles R. Saunders Prize)
- Memoir: Donna Morrissey & apprentice Storme Arden
- Memoir: Sandra Phinney & apprentice Elizabeth Jeha
- Poetry: Alice Burdick & apprentice Janelle Levesque
2023
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Michelle Samson
- Fiction: Anne Simpson & apprentice Nadia Aumeerally
- Fiction: Darryl Whetter & apprentice J.P. Smith
- Nonfiction: AnnMarie MacKinnon & apprentice Monika Dutt
- Poetry: Annick MacAskill & apprentice Hollis Holden
- Poetry: Margo Wheaton & apprentice Andrea Hubley
2022
- Fiction: Chris Benjamin & apprentice M. V. Feehan, who went on to publish the short story collection In The Shadow of Crows (Baraka Books, 2024)
- Fiction: Becca Babcock & apprentice Susan LeBlanc, who went on to publish the novel The Nowhere Places (Nimbus Publishing, 2024)
- Memoir: Cooper Lee Bombardier & apprentice Claudette Bouman, who went on to publish the memoir Failing Forward in Saarland (FriesenPress, 2024)
- YA Fiction: Jo Treggiari & apprentice Nayani Jensen
2021
- Fiction: Stephanie Domet & apprentice Danica Roache
- Fiction: Evelyn White & apprentice Robert de la Chevotiere
- Poetry: El Jones & apprentice Martha Mutale
- Poetry: Rebecca Thomas & apprentice Justyne Leslie
- YA Fiction: Sylvia Gunnery & apprentice Nicolas Paquette
- YA Fiction: Tom Ryan & apprentice Lori McKay
In October, 2020, with pandemic conditions prohibiting the annual Celebration of Emerging Writers, WFNS celebrated the graduates of the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program by sharing their work in video form, illustrated and animated by Nova Scotian visual artists.
- Bev Shaw reading “Undertow,” with animation by Anna Quon
- Brad Donaldson reading “Away,” with illustration by Patrick McWade
- Joanne Gallant reading an excerpt from her memoir, with videography by Catherine Bussiere
- Angela Bowden reading “Black Boy Guilty” and “The Belly of the Beast,” with artwork by Doretta Groenendyk
- Sandra Murdock reading “No is a Complete Sentence,” with illustration by Marijke Simons
- Katie Cameron reading “Anticipatory Grief” and “Fences,” with animation by Paton Francis
- Sue Murtagh reading “Lost Purse,” with illustration by Belle DeMont
Investors
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia acknowledges the Canada Council for the Arts for its investment in the creation of these videos through its Digital Originals initiative.
2020
View animated readings featuring 2020’s apprentice writers in the Digital Originals tab.
- Fiction: Andrew Battershill & apprentice Brad Donaldson
- Fiction: Valerie Compton & apprentice Bev Shaw
- Fiction: Alexander MacLeod & apprentice Sue Murtagh, who went on to publish We’re Not Rich (Nimbus Publishing, 2024)
- Fiction: Lorri Neilsen Glenn & apprentice Sandra Murdock
- Memoir: Carole Langille & apprentice Joanne Gallant, who went on to publish A Womb in the Shape of a Heart: My story of Miscarriage and Motherhood (Nimbus Publishing, 2021)
- Poetry: Sue Goyette & apprentice Angela Bowden, who went on to publish Unspoken Truth: Unmuted and Unfiltered (Pottersfield Press, 2021)
- Poetry: Nolan Natasha & apprentice Katie Cameron
2019
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Sean Bedell, who went on to publish Somewhere There’s Music (Now or Never Publishing, 2022)
- Fiction: Dian Day & apprentice Vanessa Lent
- Fiction: Jacqueline Dumas & apprentice K.R. Byggdin, who went on to publish Wonder World (Enfield & Wizenty, 2022)
- Fiction: Linda Little & apprentice Judy Kaiser
2018
- Fiction: Ian Colford & apprentice Bretten Hannam
- Fiction: Sylvia Gunnery & apprentice Bethany Lake
- Fiction: Bethany Myers & apprentice Laura Redman
- Fiction: Norene Smiley & apprentice Allison Richard
2017
- Fiction: Stephanie Domet & apprentice Amanda Peters, who went on to publish The Berry Pickers and Waiting for the Long Night Moon (HarperCollins, 2023)
- Fiction: Stephen Law & apprentice Louise Cameron
- Poetry: Margo Wheaton & apprentice Caira Clark
2016
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Nicola Davison, who went on to publish In the Wake (Nimbus Publishing, 2018)
- Fiction: Susan Haley & apprentice Lindsay Wilson
- Fiction: A.J.B. Johnston & apprentice Linda McLean
- Fiction: Linda Little & apprentice Erin Beth Langille
- YA Fiction: Darcy Rhyno & apprentice Chad Lucas, who went on to publish Thanks a Lot, Universe (Abrams Books, 2021)
2015
- Fiction: Binnie Brennan & apprentice Sally Reardon, who went on to publish The Spanish Boy (Signature Editions, 2016)
- Fiction: Keir Lowther & apprentice Helen Petrulak
- Poetry: Alice Burdick & apprentice Bethany Hindmarsh
- Poetry: Carole Langille & apprentice Maryann Martin
- YA Fiction: Krista Johansen & apprentice Lindsey Carmichael
2014
- Fiction: Elaine McCluskey & apprentice Marie Solis
- Fiction: Dana Mills & apprentice Maureen St. Clair, who went on to publish Big Island, Small (Fernwood Publishing, 2018)
- Memoir: Kathleen Martin & apprentice Lindy Weilgart
- Poetry: Anne Simpson & apprentice Rita Wilson
- YA Fiction: Jaime Forsythe & apprentice Nolan Natasha, who went on to publish I Can Hear You, Can You Hear Me? (Invisible Publishing, 2019)
2013
- Jaime Forsythe & apprentice Kristin Slaney
- Heather Jessup & apprentice Joshua Tibbetts
- Stephens Gerard Malone & apprentice Corrinne Gilroy
- Ian McGillis & apprentice Jessica Chisholm
- McGillis, a member of the Quebec Writers’ Federation, participated in the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program as part of an exchange initiative made possible by the generous support of The Writers’ Trust of Canada. In the same year, Alexander MacLeod mentored an apprentice writer from Quebec.
- Shandi Mitchell & apprentice David Hood, who went on to publish What Kills Good Men (Nimbus Publishing, 2015)
2012
- Fiction: Stephanie Domet & apprentice Meagan Campbell
- Fiction: Susan Haley & apprentice Carmelita Boivin-Cole
- Fiction: William Kowalski & apprentice Iain MacLeod
- Fiction: Jackie Torrens & apprentice Ella Silver
- Poetry: Kate Kennedy & apprentice Vincent MacIllivray
2011
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Catherine Cooper, who went on to publish White Elephant (Freehand Books, 2016)
- Fiction: William Kowalski & apprentice Jack Florek
- Poetry: Brian Bartlett & apprentice Anna Mancini
- YA Fiction: Philip Roy & apprentice Katrina Nicholson
2010
- Fiction: Stephens Gerard Malone & apprentice Melanie Furlong
- Memoir: Mary Jane Copps & apprentice Jane Finlay-Young
- Memoir: Maureen Hull & apprentice Sara Jewel-Mattinson
- Poetry: Lorri Neilsen Glenn & apprentice Brian Braganza
- Poetry: Matt Robinson & apprentice Jenny McDougall
2009
- Gary Blackwood & apprentice Jan Coates, who went on to publish The Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk (Red Deer Press, 2010)
- Sylvia Gunnery & apprentice Judy Dudar, who went on to publish I Spy a Bunny (Nimbus Publishing, 2009)
2008
- Fiction: Christy Ann Conlin & apprentice Julie Glaser
- Fiction: Maureen Hull & apprentice Camilla Morrow
- Fiction: Leo McKay, Jr., & apprentice Don Roy
- Poetry: Sue Goyette & apprentice Kathryn Bjornson
- Poetry: Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen & apprentice Mary Kathryn Arnold
2007
- Vicki Grant & apprentice Ann Foster
- Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaassen & apprentice Marilyn Rudi
- Susan Haley & apprentice Marlene Stanton, who went on to publish Mercy, Mercy (Acorn Press, 2019)
- Marilyn Iwama & apprentice Christina McRae, who went on to publish Next to Nothing (Wolsak and Wynn, 2009)
- Bill Kowalski & apprentice Keir Lowther, who went on to publish Dirty Bird (Tightrope Press, 2012)
2006
- Fiction: Kelly Cooper & apprentice Elizabeth Venart
- Fiction: Susan Haley & apprentice Abby Whidden
- Fiction: Bill Kowalski & apprentice Glenna Jenkins, who went on to publish Somewhere I Belong (Acorn Press Canada, 2014)
- Poetry: Don Domanski & apprentice Matilka Krow
- YA Fiction: Don Aker & apprentice Brenda Tate
2005
- Poetry: Lesley Choyce & apprentice Jacob MacArthur Mooney, who went on to publish The New Layman’s Almanac (M&S, 2008)
- Poetry: Don Domanski & apprentice Miki Fukuda
- Fiction: Sue Goyette & apprentice Shandi Mitchell, who went on to publish Under This Unbroken Sky (Penguin Canada, 2009; Weidenfeld & Nicolson [UK], 2009; Harper Collins [US], 2009)
- Fiction: Linda Little & apprentice Amy Jones, who went on to publish What Boys Like (Biblioasis, 2009)
- Fiction: Donna Morrissey & apprentice Emily Holton, who went on to publish Dear Canada Council / Our Starland (Conundrum Press, 2008)
2004
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Laura Trunkey
- Fiction: Richard Cumyn & apprentice Ryan Turner, who went on to publish What We’re Made Of (Oberon Press, 2009)
- Poetry: Don Domanski & apprentice David Potter
- Poetry: Sue Goyette & apprentice Munju Ravindra
- Writing for Children: Norene Smiley & apprentice Jacqui Halsey, who went on to publish Peggy’s Letters (Turtleback Books, 2005)
2003
- Fiction: Christy Ann Conlin & apprentice Rosaria Campbell
- Fiction: Richard Cumyn & apprentice Ami McKay, who went on to publish The Birth House (Knopf, 2006)
- Fiction: Pamela Donoghue & apprentice Renée Hartleib
- Poetry: Carole Langille & apprentice Joanne Jefferson
- Poetry: Eleonore Schönmaier & apprentice Rose Adams
2001 – 2002
- Fiction: Carol Bruneau & apprentice Susan Cameron, who went on to publish The Four Walls (McArthur & Co., 2008)
- Fiction: Lesley Choyce & apprentice Kim Scaravelli
- Fiction: Anne Simpson & apprentice Karin Cope
- Poetry: Sue Goyette & apprentice Genevieve Lehr, who went on to publish The Sorrowing House (Brick Books, 2004)
- Poetry: Sue MacLeod & apprentice Marilyn Iwama, who went on to publish Skin Whispers Down (Thistledown Press, 2003)
