Mentor Series

The Mentor Series is Back

Fellows/applicants should prepare for and be able to attend all program-related meetings, seminars, readings, workshops, manuscript conferences, and social activities. These activities may be virtual or in-person depending on mentors’ and fellows’ comfort level and public health guidelines. 

Mentor Series 2021–2022 Applications

Applications for the 2021-2022 Mentor Series are now closed. The Loft Literary Center invites poets, fiction, and nonfiction writers to apply to the 2021–2022 Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose. This program offers advanced criticism and professional development opportunities to 12 writers: four each in the genres of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.

This year's program mentors are Tiffany Midge (poetry), Chris Santiago (poetry), Anika Fajardo (nonfiction), Kiese Laymon (nonfiction), Shannon Gibney (fiction), and Poupeh Missaghi (fiction).

2021–2022 Mentor Series Guidelines 2021–2022 Mentor Series Schedule
Congratulations 2019–2020 Fellows

The Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose offers twelve emerging Minnesota writers the opportunity to work intensively with six nationally acclaimed writers of prose and poetry.

Congratulations to the 2019–2020 Mentor Series Fellows: in creative nonfiction Jennifer Hildebrant, Patti Kameya, Nicola Koh, and Heather Quinn; in poetry Rachel Castro, Halee Kirkwood, Tara McDaniel, and ​Claudette Webster; and in fiction Gen Del Raye, Michael Garberich, Misty Schwab, and​ Chee Vang.

The mentors for the upcoming season will be poets Ross Gay and Gretchen Marquette, nonfiction writers Melissa Febos and Douglas Kearney, and fiction writers Jennine Capó Crucet and Junauda Petrus.

The Loft Mentor Series is supported by grants from the Jerome Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by Loft members.

2019–2020 Loft Mentor Series Recipients
Upcoming Mentor Series Events
There are no upcoming events for this category.

About the Mentor Series

The Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose offers twelve emerging Minnesota writers the opportunity to work intensively with six nationally acclaimed writers of prose and poetry for one fellowship year. Offered since 1979, the Mentor Series is the Loft's oldest mentorship program. The Mentor Series is funded by the Jerome Foundation, the NEA, and Loft Members.

An incomplete list of past program mentors include Danez Smith, Marlon James, Tracy K. Smith, Grace Paley, Lorrie Moore, Louise Erdrich, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Mark Doty, Diane Glancy, Toi Derricotte, Dani Shapiro, Allison Hedge Coke, Richard Blanco, Dinty Moore, Nick Flynn, Evelina Chao, Michael Ondaatje, Sharon Olds, June Jordan, Joy Harjo, Gerald Stern, Sandra Cisneros, Dorianne Laux, Yusef Komanyaaka, Alexs Pate, David Mura, Li-Young Lee, Martin Espada, Deborah Keenan, Jim Moore, Nikki Giovanni, Charles Baxter, Maxine Hong Kingston, Nuruddin Farah, Rita Dove, Jessica Hagedorn, Phillip Levine, Marge Piercy, Agha Shahid Ali, Lynda Barry, Ai, Amy Bloom, G.E. Patterson, Sigrid Nunez, Barrie Jean Borich, Heid Erdrich, Diego Vazquez, Jr., Kao Kalia Yang, Sun Yung Shin, Diane Wilson, Vu Tran, Sugi Ganeshananthan, and many, many more.