Mentoring is an important relationship
I take on a limited number of mentoring clients at a time. For those interested in working with me in 2027 please read on.
At the heart of mentoring is attentive one-to-one support as you work on your manuscript, either prose (novels, novellas, short stories or memoir) or poetry (pamphlet or collection length, including prose poetry, concrete poetry, lyric poetry…).
My approach is to centre your voice and ask questions of the work which will help you to push your own boundaries as a writer and grow in confidence. This is the case whether you are at a relatively early stage of writing or an experienced writer. My mentees have included emerging writers and professors of writing, unpublished and published writers and many people who have returned to mentor new projects.
In addition, mentoring with me comes with extra features to support your writing journey:
- a beautiful community space where you can connect with others taking their writing seriously, share work and chat about books that are inspiring you and the the struggles and triumphs of writing;
- seasonal online workshops where we explore process and deepening our writing together;
- a 4 day online intensive with workshops and readings.
- an end of year weekend festival of writing with guest readers and workshops plus opportunities to read your own work.
The resources from the workshops are yours to download and will include lots of writing exercises plus meditations and other inspiration for your work.
One-to-one feedback
In our one to one sessions we’ll focus on your work in fine detail as well as structurally, with the aim of encouraging creative leaps and deepening confidence in your voice. Mentoring is something that can expand the vision of our writing practice at every stage and the aim is to give you the tools to make shifts of perspective and clarify your vision of the project.
As well as regular written feedback we can also do follow ups on Zoom (as you feel most beneficial) so you can clarify questions as they arise. Throughout the year we’ll also dig deeper into how you find your writing rhtyhm, maintain flow, nurture your creativity and allow your voice to emerge.
Mentoring sets high expectations and accountability as well as giving you focussed support and encouragement. It involves honesty with kindness, being open to questions and a transformative collaboration. It’s a serious investment in your writing so we both need to be sure it’s the right step for you as each mentoring relationship is unique.
Feedback from students
Jan created a safe and welcoming space in the Kith’s Poets Group, where there was time to reflect and develop. There was a great sense of community within the group, despite being geographically separated and never meeting in person. The workshops were well organised and resourced, reflecting her depth and range of reading and knowledge. I particularly valued the ‘residential workshop’, which provided the opportunity to dig deeply into my writing.
I found the one-to-one mentoring invaluable. Jan is a meticulous editor, supportive but also willing to challenge. She is generous with her time and it has been wonderful for someone to look at a body of work, which has allowed me to grow in confidence.
Yvonne
Working with Jan this year as part of the Kith Poets Group has moved my work forward a huge amount.
I would highly recommend the course to others as a way to dig deeply into your writing and expand the boundaries of your current practice. Jan works with you where you are and helps you to reach where you want to be through encouragement and achievable challenges. This year has been transformative for my writing and writing practice and a rewarding and valuable experience.
Angharad Griffiths
I have valued every exchange and comment that you have made and it sends me back to question the poem/poems again in order to try alternative approaches. Being mentored over this year has allowed me to examine my writing in unexpected ways. It is through the exchange of feedback that I have learnt more about my effectiveness as a poet. In addition the close discussion and commentary on a whole body of work spread over the year means that I have time to respond and improve work in progress. I have discovered ways of strengthening my mode of expression and in the light of constructive feedback I have now completed a body of work that has achieved my aims for this year’s mentoring programme. I can also rely on my mentor to be honest and to offer a totally new perspective on my work.
Patricia
I have had the pleasure and privilege of Jan’s time and expertise over a number of years. One of the key elements of mentoring has been the workshops. These are so thorough, detailed, and stimulating in their range and depth. They always lead into focused writing, whether it be prose, poetry, or journalling. The themes are broad and universal, but Jan always structures the work in very specific ways, so there is a particular objective. The supporting material and prompts provide a huge resource.
Complementing this approach is the all important personal feedback on one’s work. The essential element here is the targeted, detailed scrutiny, line by line, word by word if necessary. Suggestions are always made in a constructive tone, and there is a regime of both rigour and encouragement, as well as the drive to challenge oneself. Along with this comes the general advice about the writing, the way forward, adaptations. Jan is keenly aware how sensitive writers are, and always finds ways to make these our own modifications. Ultimately, the huge benefit I have felt is in knowing that a sympathetic and perceptive reader is appreciating what I am trying to express, and offering – in a phrase of Joseph Conrad on which I dwell a great deal – “the sanction of another mind”.
Jan is a sympathetic observer of one’s work: she has the ability and experience to “see it steadily and see it whole” at times when I become too involved. Her advice and encouragement are always to experiment, to take risks, to challenge oneself and the task. She has displayed great candour with my work this year, dealing with a project that I began with great enthusiasm, but ended up going nowhere: it was partly a matter of the nature of the material, partly a matter of tone, partly structure.
Sometimes a piece dies on the page and cannot be redeemed. Usually I know this deep down but cling on because of the time and emotion invested. Jan found ways to move me on and away from something not working. But, and this is the most significant point, Jan knows that no writing experience is wasted, and ensured that I came away feeling that I had learned much, and that there was a future in other directions.
I am a painfully slow at developing ideas: once inspiration comes I can work more quickly, but sometimes weeks or months may pass; then panic sets in. Jan has always kept confidence in me and the potential in a piece, reassuring me and telling me not to rush. Jan’s workshops surface again and again at such times, restoring confidence in the project. It’s like having a library of ideas and forms of experience to revisit when a particular stimulus occurs.
In conclusion, it will probably come as no surprise if I quote the familiar virtues. This year, in her mentoring of my work, Jan has maintained faith in my work, and helped me to do so; she has sustained my hope to improve the work, and that this is worthwhile; and above all, she has shown charity in her support of writers, as individuals with unique needs and desires. I owe her a great debt of gratitude for her support and her example.
Mick Evans
Investment
Unless we give our writing time and power it will wither. Saying yes to your creativity always requires saying no to other things. Mentoring will cost you time and emotional and intellectual resources. It will also offer you creative rewards and immense satisfaction.
The financial investment, which includes the workshop series, prompts and inspiration, an online residential, access to the kith community writers space and individual one-to one mentoring by email and Zoom. is £2200. (I offer one 50% bursary in each year).*
I’ll be adding a form for those interested in mentoring to contact me from the autumn,