The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc), Hachette Australia and Hachette New Zealand are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 NZSA / Hachette Mentor Program.

For the second year in a row the depth of New Zealand writing talent impressed Hachette Australia and Hachette New Zealand so much it was decided that not one but two writers should be given the opportunity to work on a new draft of their manuscript under Hachette Australia's guidance.

Congratulations to Heidi North-Bailey (pictured at right) and Linda Bennett (pictured at left) who will both be mentored during 2017, receiving constructive critique of their manuscript from an Hachette editor. The resulting manuscripts may be considered by Hachette for publication within 6 months of the writers delivering their new drafts.

Heidi North-Bailey's poetry, essays and short fiction have featured in New Zealand and international journals. In 2016, Heidi was selected as the New Zealand fellow on the Shanghai Writer’s Program where she joined joined nine other writers from around the world for two months in Shanghai. The manuscript selected for the Hachette mentorship is her first novel.

Linda Bennett is a registered nurse who holds a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing from Whitireia and a Masters in Creative Writing from Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. Linda is based in Wellington, where she works part time as a palliative care nurse while continuing to develop her skills as a writer of contemporary fiction.

Hachette Australia had a challenge choosing between the 41 applications. Publisher Sophie Hamley commented “With so many wonderful entries it took me some time to choose these two writers – the long list started at about twenty entries, and crafting a shortlist was difficult when there was such a depth of talent and range of stories.”

Six manuscripts, authored by Linda Bennett, Patricia Donovan, Heidi North-Bailey, Andrew Stiggers, and Rebecca Wixon were shortlisted and when it came to the crunch Hachette decided to extend the mentorship to two of these shortlisted authors.

This program is proudly presented by Hachette Australia and Hachette New Zealand in partnership with The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc.)