Mentorship pair Seyward Goodhand and Amelia Deizter-Dicks took part in our 2021/2022 Professional Mentorship Program. Their focus was on creative writing. Amelia worked on writing short fiction stories and incorporating Seyward’s feedback into every new draft. They also worked on submitting Amelia’s stories to a number of journals and magazines. And attended book launches and networking events for writers together.
How was your experience in the mentorship program? Why do you think this mentorship was valuable to you?
“It was wonderful to work with such an accomplished, professional emerging artist who was ready to hit the ground running and devote herself to a rigorous, invigorating schedule. It was an energizing, nourishing experience!” – Seyward Goodhand
“My art will forever be changed after this program. I have learned so many valuable skills and I cannot wait to continue putting them to use.” – Amelia Deizter-Dicks
Seyward Goodhand’s stories have been shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize and a National Magazine Award, and longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize.
Her first book, Even That Wildest Hope (Invisible Publishing), was a finalist for the Manitoba Book Awards’ Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction and the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book, and longlisted for the 2020 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto on early modern sympathy and its participation in political authority.
Currently she’s the MB/SK rep for The Writers’ Union of Canada.
Amelia Deizter-Dicks is very proud of her aloe vera plants, the first of which is now a mother of two. She has had her short stories and poetry published in three of Creative Manitoba’s Youth Anthologies and is taking the mentorship program this year to focus on honing her short fiction. As a queer Metis woman, Amelia is interested in exploring themes of relationships between women and cycles of trauma. She hopes to be featured in anthologies and magazines this year. Amelia currently has no pets, but she does live with her long-term partner/lab assistant.