Horizons Writers Circle 2022
Program period: October 2022–March 2023
Horizons is now closed to applications
Horizons Writers Circle is a program that provides support and mentorship for writers within the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) community, ESL, and underrepresented writers who live in Edmonton and are at the beginning of their literary journey. The program will run for five months and is fully subsidized, making it cost-free for successful applicants.
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta (WGA) with the support from Edmonton Community Foundation, have designed Horizons Writers Circle to yield new literary works, explore the experience of underrepresented writers, and initiate dialogue that celebrates our diversity and contributes to a deeper understanding of one another. The program offers mentorship, workshops, discussions, networking, public reading opportunities, industry events, and more. Horizons Writers Circle will run from October 2022 to March 2023 and will take place in person, unless otherwise specified for events and activities.
The program reflects the WGA’s commitment to emerging writers from diverse backgrounds. Our hope is to create opportunities for underserved writers, empowering them by supporting their self-determined journey to becoming established members of the literary community.
Mentorship is a significant part of the program. Participants are carefully matched with well-established members of the literary community who can address their specific creative and technical writing goals.
2022 Horizons Writers Circle Participants Announced
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is proud to announce the participants for the 2022 Horizons Writers Circle, its mentored writing program for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), ESL, and underrepresented writers living in Edmonton.
This October, fourteen Alberta writers will begin their participation in the WGA’s Horizons Writers Circle. The program will run between the months of October 2022 and March 2023, under the coordination of publisher and writer Luciana Erregue-Sacchi. Writers from diverse backgrounds in the early stages of their career will be mentored by experienced writers in the city in a series of workshops, panels and one-on-one mentorship. The program aims to introduce these new writers to the wider Edmonton community, make new contacts in the industry, and help them thrive in their writing careers.
This year’s participants are:
- Kathleen Crowe will work with Naomi McIlwraith
- Juhua (Manna) Liu will work with Tracey Anderson
- Ting (Maria Antonieta) Pimentel-Elger will work with Pierrette Requier
- Devika Short will work with Medgine Mathurin
- K’alii Luuyaltkw will work with Tololwa Mollel
- Catalina Morales Velez will work with Lorna Schultz Nicholson
- Giselle General will work with Wendy McGrath
Meet this year's participants!
About Horizons
Program History
Since its original incarnation, as the PEN Writers in Exile program, and Borderlines Writers Circle, Horizons Writers Circle is inspired by the recognition of languages and cultures as living processes, the experience of BIPOC and/or immigrant writers as they fashion their sense of space on a page. It encourages authors from marginalized or underrepresented groups to write from and/or about their own perspectives and experiences. Participants from this year’s cohort will be closely involved in developing this year’s program.
Candidate Criteria - Mentee
Candidates are required to meet the following criteria:
- The candidate must be a part of the BIPOC, immigrant, ESL and underrepresented community and has not yet established a substantial presence in Canada’s mainstream literary scene.
- The candidate must be a resident of Edmonton.
- The candidate must have a working knowledge of English.
- The candidate must be a Canadian citizen, refugee or landed immigrant.
- The candidate must be available to attend events and activities with reasonable regularity for the duration of the program.
- The candidate must provide writing samples. Please note that published works are not required.
- The candidate must have a clear intention of exploring and establishing a future in writing.
Mentor Matching Panel
Representatives from WGA, the Edmonton writing community, and Horizons former alumni will select this years’ participants. A shortlist will advance to the interview stage. Final list candidates will be chosen from the interview pool.
Mentorship Opportunity
Interested in nurturing upcoming writers and exchanging literary knowledge with the wider writing community? We are looking for established members of the literary community to become mentors for the Horizons Writers Circle 2022-2023. We are looking for individuals who are familiar with aspects of craft and are actively involved in local writing ecosystem.
Mentorship and fellowship are central to the Horizons Writers Circle. Each mentor is paired with one participant and tasked to address their specific creative and technical writing goals. A successful working relationship would cover current or future projects and exploring a path to developing an established writing identity. Periodically, mentors will get together with the coordinator on a one-to one basis to ensure the program is fulfilling its objectives.
Benefits of Mentoring:
-Personal satisfaction of guiding and supporting a fellow writer’s development
-The opportunity to further build your own mentorship skills.
-Widening your professional and social networks at a point in Canada’s Literature where the norm is the increased diversification of voices.
Mentor Criteria
Our mentors must meet the following criteria:
- The mentor must be an established member of Canada’s literary scene.
- The mentor must be available for the duration of the program and can attend events and activities with reasonable regularity.
- Experience in mentorship is an advantage, but not required.
- The mentors must live in Edmonton.
Total time commitment: 35 hours (including one-on-one meetings, ongoing feedback/mentorship, and attendance in at least two events)
Wages will be disclosed upon receiving application.
Horizons 101 Series
In 2021/22, the Horizons program hosted a 101 panel Series on all things literary.
The first was Literary Festivals 101, featuring four female festival directors from across Canada, Amanda Leduc, from The FOLD Festival, Charlene Diehl from Winnipeg’s Thin Air Festival, Fawnda Mithrush from LitFest YEG, and Shelley Youngblut, from Calgary’s Wordfest will share with us their insights on running literary festivals. This event was co-sponsored by the Edmonton Public Library through their 2021 Writer in Residence, Vern Thiessen.
The second in the series was Translation 101: In an increasingly interconnected literary world, literary translation is a most pertinent topic for authors who either would like to consider their works to be translated into other languages (English to French or vice-versa, Italian, Chinese, etc.) or are thinking of becoming literary translators. In our second installment of the 101 Series, we converse with three professional literary translators: writer Arianna Dagnino, Egyptian-Canadian novelist, poet, Yasser Abdel-Latif, and publisher Stephen Henighan (Biblioasis). The panel was co-sponsored by the Literary Translators Association of Canada (LTAC), with thanks to its Alberta representative, Dr. Leilei Chen.
The final panel in the series was Editing 101: Are you an emerging writer and you are wondering how to make your manuscript fit for publishing? What are the necessary steps to make it publishable? How many types of editing does a manuscript need? Our province has top notch editors, and we are asking three of our very best what it takes to turn a manuscript into an award-winning book. Meet editors Peter Midgley, Kimmy Beach and Alicia Chantal as they discuss their tried and tested strategies for flawless texts.
We thank all who apply, however, only those applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.
Contact
Please direct any questions regarding the Horizons Writers Circle to program coordinator Luciana Erregue-Sacchi ([email protected]).
Support
The 2022 Horizons Writers Circle is supported by Edmonton Community Foundation and the Edmonton Arts Council.
Horizons is also grateful for donations from Rona Altrows, In memory of Brian Brennan and In honour of Peter Midgley, winner of the 2022 Altrows Award.
Funders
2021 Own Voices Alberta
In partnership with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta (WGA) and with the support from the Calgary Foundation, the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society (AWCS) designed Own Voices Alberta to yield new literary works, explore the BIPOC experience, and initiate dialogue that celebrates our diversity and contributes to a deeper understanding of one another. The program offers mentorship, workshops, discussions, networking, public reading opportunities, industry events, and more.
Own Voices Alberta runs from March to July 2021 and is set entirely online, unless otherwise specified for events and activities.
The program reflects AWCS’s advocacy of writing as a form of expression through meaningful engagement of emerging writers within the local BIPOC community. Our hope is to create opportunities for underserved writers, empowering them by supporting their self-determined journey to becoming established members of the literary community.
Mentorship is a significant part of the program. Participants are carefully matched with well-established members of the literary community who can address their specific creative and technical writing goals.
This year's pairings are:
- Allan B. Rosales will be mentored by Wakefield Brewster
- Kirti Bhadresa will be mentored by Barb Howard
- Monda Mahmoud will be mentored by Pam Clark
- Nicole M’carthy will be mentored by Sam Jones
- Sandro Silva will be mentored by Wendy McGrath
- Vina Nguyen will be mentored by Lee Kvern
Click the tabs to learn more about this year's Own Voices Alberta participants!
