Author Patience Agbabi FRSL is a celebrated poet and novelist for middle-grade audiences. She has turned her attention to writing fiction in the last five years and is offering mentoring that will enable her to share knowledge on her more recent experiences as well as her deep-rooted writing craft.
We met with Patience to find out more about the mentoring opportunity and her work.
“Mentoring is communication – an exchange of knowledge and insights – which is invaluable for writers at any stage of their career. It offers you a time to focus on your needs. ”
— Patience Agbabi
Can you tell us about the Mentoring opportunity and what it offers?
I’m offering four mentoring sessions to an emerging to mid-career writer. I made an application to Arts Council England to offer sessions free of charge, which I’m delighted to say has recently come through.
Who are the sessions being offered to?
The sessions are offered to/suitable for a writer who wishes to develop an understanding and gain feedback on writing a middle-grade novel. You might be at the ideas stage or have begun writing but need support, insights and inspiration to enable you to reach your goal.
What does/will the mentoring consist of?
Up to four one-to-one sessions via Zoom or telephone offered in June 2024, for example weekly sessions run over four weeks or at times to mutually suit. A session can run for 60 to 90 minutes.
Why is mentoring important?
Mentoring is communication – an exchange of knowledge and insights – which is invaluable for writers at any stage of their career. It offers you a time to focus on your needs. When it’s good, it’s attuned to what a person most needs at that time. It offers a sympathetic ear, someone who is making time to listen to you. It also enables you to try out new ideas and expand your creative horizons.
Where does your passion for writing come from?
My passion primarily comes from reading books and hearing them read aloud. But it also comes from engaging with other art forms, especially music and film. I always remind my students that inspiration can come from unexpected sources.
How does one apply?
Email a short letter of application – a maximum of one page of A4 to theleapcycle@gmail.com that indicates your interest and includes:
- A short bio and/or introduction to your work (maximum of a half page of A4)
- Why you feel you can benefit from mentoring sessions
- An indication of your availability in June 2024
- You can, should you wish, also attach a sample of your work of a maximum quantity of two pages of A4.
The closing date to apply is 17 May 2024. If you have any queries or require further information, contact theleapcycle@gmail.com
Patience Agbabi FRSL is a poet and a novelist for middle grade audiences. She has been a Fellow in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University since 2008 and has taught extensively for The Arvon Foundation and Ty Newydd. Her poems and writing are studied in schools and universities and she tours internationally. She has participated in residencies from Eton College to Flamin’ Eight, a tattoo studio; from The Historic Dockyard at Chatham to stately home Harewood House. Internationally, she has performed in the US, Southern Africa and Europe, and she had a short residency at Yale this year.
In the last four years, Patience has turned her talents to writing a tetralogy for children aged 8 to ∞. The Leap Cycle is a thrilling time-travel adventure series and the debut novel, The Infinite (Canongate, 2020), was a CBBC Book of the Month (July 2020) and won the Wales Book of the Year (Children & Young People Award), was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Scottish Teenage Book Prize and longlisted for the Branford Boase Award. Philip Pullman said of it: ‘Vivid, funny, exciting and inventive…Patience Agbabi has created something fresh and original here, and I look forward very much to what she writes next.’ The fourth novel of the series, The Past Master, was published in February 2024.
