Winners of 2016 mentorship program for emerging writers
The Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick (WFNB) is pleased to announce the winners of its mentorship program to support the next generation of New Brunswick authors.
The federation selected poets Sandra Bunting of Burnt Church (mentor) and Melanie Craig-Hansford of Erbs Cove (mentee) and fiction writers Gerard Collins of Cassidy Lake (mentor) and Andrea Kikuchi from Saint John (mentee).
The program pairs emerging writers with professional writers in a one-on-one setting. This creative partnership gives established authors the opportunity to share their knowledge and guide emerging writers toward the goal of publication. Emerging writers gain valuable lessons in honing their craft and handling the business side of writing over the 40 hours of mentorship the program offers.
Bunting is an award-winning writer (Glenna Luschei award for poetry through the ‘Prairie Schooner’, University of Nebraska) and is currently on the editorial board of the Irish-based literary magazine, Crannóg. She was runner-up for the 2006 Welsh Cinnamon Press First Novel Competition and was a finalist at the 2009 Irish Digital Media Awards for her Blog: Writing a Novel Online.
Craig-Hansford graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She recently retired from teaching high school visual arts. In 2012 she co-wrote a book called Prayers For Women Who Can’t Pray that was published by Wintergreen Studios Press in Ontario. Last year one of her poems appeared in a chapbook edited by Lorna Crozier, Momma’s Prayer Flags.
Collins’ first novel, Finton Moon, was nominated for the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2013 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and 2014 NL Heritage and History Award. It also won the Percy Janes First Novel Award. His short story collection, Moonlight Sketches, won the 2012 NL Book Award. His works are taught in university and high school.
Kikuchi discovered her love of writing while living in Ebina-Shi, Japan. Since then, she has taught workshops for the Write Stuff Festival, Word Collective and the Saint John Free School. She has published her work in Canada and Japan and is working on her first full-length novel Gaijin, a work of fiction based on her experience in Japan.
WFNB is the only organization devoted solely to encouraging, invigorating and supporting the province’s community of writers at all stages of development.
