Mentor Programme
The NZSA Mentor Programme is designed to give beginning or emerging writers who demonstrate potential and commitment the opportunity to work closely with an experienced writer as their mentor in order to hone their writing skills and, in the process, take a piece of work from the early stages to a polished manuscript with potential for publication.
Offering professional development, a safe space to discuss the creaft of writing, intellectual community, role models, accountability and substantive feedback.
NZSA seek to reflect and expand the depth and breadth of our sector and welcome applications from diverse writers working across a range of genres and writing disciplines. As part of our commitment to diversity we tag three mentorships for emerging writers identifying as Māori, Pasifika, and Asian.
This programme is open to financial members of the NZSA. Mentors dedicate 25 hours of their time to a full mentorship and 12.5 hours to a half mentorship. Each mentorship spans a 7 – 8 month period which starts in April when the match is confirmed and ends in November of that year.
Applications for this programme are open from 1 December to 1 Feb in any given year. Find out more
This programme is made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand.
NZSA Youth Mentor Programme
With the support of Creative New Zealand, we offer a Youth Mentor programme aimed at senior secondary school students.
The aims are to nurture, encourage, inspire and develop emerging writers with the support of established authors through the mentoring process
There are four 9-hour mentorships available nationwide. Students will be matched with an experienced YA writer.
Applications for this programme are open from Feb to April in any given year. Find out more
Here’s what one of our Youth mentees had to say about their mentorship
‘The relationship and communication with my mentor was amazing. All the goals I set were personally settled upon which allowed for great project development and personal achievement’.
This programme is made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand.
StartWrite Writing Sample and Synopsis Assessment Programme
The NZSA StartWrite Writing Sample and Synopsis Assessment Service is an excellent opportunity for writers and comic / graphic novelists who want to get an appraisal for part of a manuscript. Writers can submit a piece of writing, up to 6,000 words (for poetry up to 24 pages), and a one-page synopsis. The manuscripts are appraised by experienced authors and assessors in a one to two-page report. They will also answer up to three specific questions that the writer may submit with the chapter and synopsis.
StartWrite offers writers a great opportunity to develop style and direction for a project in the early stages of development. The report comments on the writer’s technical ability, suggestions for improvement and advice on the next step, encouraging innovation and exploration of ideas and techniques. Find out more
This programme is made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand
CompleteMS Manuscript Assessment Programme
This programme is supported by Creative New Zealand and is open to financial members of the NZSA.
The aim of the programme is to provide writers with that essential critical feedback on an advanced work, moving it closer to publication. Manuscripts should be at 2nd or 3rd draft and can be poetry, fiction, short fiction or non-fiction; the emphasis is on a completed work that the writer feels requires the objective view of an experienced assessor who can provide constructive critiquing and suggestions for improvement and refinement. 13 CompleteMS assessments available.
Applications for this programme are open from March to May in any given year. Find out more.
Here’s what two of our writers had to say about their CompleteMS assessment.
“An assessment can pick up a manuscript, give it a shake-up and a new eye and give a writer a different direction and a boost for their work.”
“If any writer is harbouring doubts about where to take his/her manuscript, the CompleteMS programme provides a handy compass.”
These programmes are made possible thanks to support from Creative New Zealand.
