Mentorship Program
Are you passionate about creative writing, whether it’s prose, poetry, or creative nonfiction?
Do you want to elevate your writing skills under the guidance of an experienced, published mentor and engage with peers in graduate-level seminars?
Look no further! The Insurgence is offering a 4-week mentorship program starting in October for middle school, high school, and college students. Participants will also receive invaluable support with college that could potentially span their entire high school career, and supplemental essays instruction from mentors the renowned IvyZen program, which has instruction services that exceeds $30,000!
The mentorship programs will begin on October 7th, lasting four week and concluding November 1st. The program will consist of three parts: the graduate-level seminars, one-on-one instruction with one’s mentor, and independent work on pieces throughout the week. ‘
Graduate-Level Seminars: In this seminars, students will have the opportunity to present their work at the end of the week to their like-minded peers. Then, their peers will critique their work, nuancing their instruction from merely the instruction of their mentor.
One-on-One Instruction: At the beginning of the week, mentors will meet with their students, instructing them on different prompts to approach creative writing, or helping them fully form an idea if they have one planned already. Throughout the week, mentors will be available with emails and impromptu meetings if they need further instruction.
Independent Work: Students are required to work on their pieces throughout the week, in order to have a cohesive piece to present to their peers.
At the end of this program, students will leave with a portfolio of 4-8 poems or pieces of prose writing that are a testament to their writing ability, aided by the criticisms of their peers and mentors.
The cost of this program is $150 per student.
MENTORS —
Talicha J. — a Black queer poet and freelance teaching artist. She's a Pushcart Prize nominee and is a Collaborating Fellow at The Poetry Lab. She has competed on stages across the U.S. with Respect Da Mic, and Art Amok slam teams. Talicha J. became a nationally touring poet after the release of her debut poetry collection, "Falling in Love with Picking Myself Up," in 2015. Her book, "Taking Back the Body," was selected as a winner in the Beyond the Veil Press chapbook contest and will be available in the spring of 2024. Talicha J. curates writing & editing sprints, generative workshops online, and a monthly submission space. Her work has been featured in several literary magazines and on the popular Button Poetry YouTube channel.
Priscilla Thomas — I taught high school in New York City for 16 years, during which time I also served as an adjunct lecturer at CUNY Lehman College and a co-facilitator of programming at the New York City Writing Project. Creative writing was an essential component of all of my classrooms and I worked with students and teachers to explore how writing could enhance and deepen our educational goals. From classroom publications and readings to public showcases at community events to Moth Story Slams, I helped my high school students take their writing from seed to bloom. I continue to work with writers on their longform projects as a developmental editor. In this role, I work one on one with writers to help them confront and move through the fear of vulnerability, self-doubt, and pressure that come with writing and visibility. This looks like a combination of writing prompts, shared writing time, discussions and advice, edits and feedback, and encouragement. I also run a community for creative folks called Write On, through which I provide co-writing spaces, community discussion, relevant resources, inspiration and prompts, and monthly workshop
Rayya Liebich (she/her) — a writer and educator of Lebanese and Polish descent. She is the author of the award-winning chapbook Tell Me Everything (Beret Day Press) and full-length poetry collection Min Hayati (Inanna Publications). Passionate about writing as a tool for transformation and changing the discourse on grief, she is currently obsessed with nonlinear forms of Creative Nonfiction and has completed a hybrid memoir on her simultaneous experience of motherhood/mother-loss. A finalist in 7 CNF contests in the past two years including the CBC Nonfiction Prize, she is the 2022 winner of The International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir, and The Federation Of BC Writers Literary Contest. She believes in the power of words to change minds and hearts and in the responsibility and privilege of poets to be truth tellers and to record poems as a testimony to history.
Application: Please proceed to this link to apply for the program —
https://forms.gle/QF9K9TfKzAKKAE4Q6
For more information about IvyZen’s college mentorship programming services, visit IvyZen:
https://www.ivyzen.net/