(Pardon if this is a repeat post... a quick search didn't reveal anything)One on One Advanced Level Fiction Writing Mentorships in the Literature of the Fantastic (fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, etc.)with Nalo Hopkinsonmore details here:http://nalohopkinson.com/2009/28/09/mentorships_2009-2010.htmlI AM:# a writer, editor, and fiction writing instructor in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and whatever else you want to call it. (I'd rather write the stuff than get into arguments about definition.) I also write erotica, or porn, or whatever you want to call it;# one of the founding members of the Carl Brandon Society, which exists to further discussion on race and ethnicity in speculative fiction writing and community;# a polymath whose perceptions are weighted towards the kinetic and the verbal;# a bit of biology geek;# a lot of language geek (in undergrad, I majored in Russian and French and audited German);# a craftsperson fascinated with historical design, fashion and imagery, altered art, sea glass, collage;# an excellent communicator, a respectful and forthright instructor;# a big ol' lefty queer pierced shaved tattooed disabled middle-aged third world Caribbean-born Canadian woman of colour with a big belly laugh, fibromyalgia, ADHD, trifocals, and funny hair.MY QUALIFICATIONS:# professionally published since 1995; four novels, one collection of short fiction, and three more novels under contract;# recipient of the World Fantasy Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, the Spectrum Award for the portrayal of GLBTQ characters in speculative fiction; shortlisted for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the Philip K. Dick Award, the James R. Tiptree Jr. award for speculative fiction that examines gender and gender roles, and Cuba's Casa de las Americas Prize for Fiction;# editor and co-editor of four anthologies of fiction, one of which received Canada's reader-voted Aurora Award;# graduate of and past instructor with the Seton Hill University Master's program in Writing Popular Fiction;# instructor in the Correspondence Program in Creative Writing through Humber College, Canada;# past mentor at all three Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Workshops (Seattle and San Diego, USA and Brisbane, Australia).MY APPROACH TO TEACHING FICTION WRITING:Your joy in the art of creating fiction is important to me. I cannot predict whether you will be a successful writer. I can't even reliably tell you whether you have talent or not; those are puddings that are very hard to prove. But I love it when a light goes on behind a student's eyes because they've perceived something new about the craft of writing that they can't wait to try out. My goals are: to help you write the story you want to write, not the one I would write; to help you develop an intuitive, body-based sense of the rhythm, structure and movement of a story. (I've discovered that when it comes to art, content and container are the same thing.) At the same time, I'm committed to challenging your skills and your understanding of what fiction does and how it works. I won't dish out empty flattery. I will be honest with you about what I perceive the strengths and weaknesses of your writing to be, and I aim to do so as one peer addressing another.DATES:The mentorships run from October 15, 2009 to January 15, 2010.You and I might be a good match for a mentor relationship if you:# are writing some form of the literature of the fantastic, such as fantasy, science fiction, or magical realism;# are passionate about the reading, writing, and theory of fiction;# are working on a specific book-length project, probably a novel or a collection of short stories;# are accustomed to having your writing critiqued and won't freak out just because I say something isn't working;# have a humanistic, egalitarian, socially conscious approach to writing and life;# have a decent grasp of the basic tools of sentence construction such as grammar, spelling, verb tenses. When you need aids such as spelling and grammar checkers, you use those without needing to be prompted (if you need specific disability accommodations, please let me know);# are interested in a professional career as a working writer.Ideally, your writing strikes a chord with me. If I don't find that, I'll look for writing that seems strong or promising. Those are largely subjective judgements, so I can't tell you in advance what will or won't be a successful application.http://nalohopkinson.com/2009/28/09/mentorships_2009-2010.html
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