Writing NSW/Text Publishing Boundless Indigenous Mentorship Program

The mentorship is awarded to an unpublished Indigenous writer who has made substantial progress on a fiction or non-fiction writing project. The intention of the program is to support the writer to develop their manuscript and to facilitate a pathway to publication.

The program will pair an emerging Indigenous writer from anywhere in Australia with a senior Indigenous writer in the same genre for a structured year-long mentorship. The writer will receive 20 hours of mentorship over the following 12 months, including feedback on their work in progress and general advice on writing and developing a publishing career. The writer will also receive editorial feedback and manuscript development from Text Publishing and access to Writing NSW professional development services.

The program includes funding for the writer and mentor to attend Boundless – a festival of culturally diverse writers to be held in Sydney in 2019.

At the conclusion of the mentorship, Text Publishing will have the exclusive first right to consider the selected manuscript for publication, under terms to be negotiated with the writer.

Writers do not need to have a full manuscript at the time of submission, though they must have made substantial progress on a manuscript, which they intend to complete (refer to submission requirements). To be eligible, writers must not previously have had a full-length work professionally published.

Submissions must be either a work of fiction (including short story collections) or narrative non-fiction for adult, kids (middle grade), or young adult. Please note that poetry, plays, picture books, and practical non-fiction are ineligible.

Submissions will be judged by multi-award-winning Wiradjuri author Tara June Winch, alongside representatives from Text Publishing and Writing NSW.

Applications close at midnight on Monday August 13th, and you can apply here. Good luck!