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Join the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild as we celebrate the apprentices in the 2025 Mentorship and Indigenous Mentorship Programs on Friday May 2 at 7:30 pm at the Delta Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. The Apprentice Reading will showcase all 4 apprentices reading from their work completed during the four-month mentorship program.Readings by:
Jan Coffey-Olson (Rosetown) mentored by J. Jill Robinson (Galiano Island) – fiction
Jennifer Gardiner (Leask) mentored by Carol Rose GoldenEagle (Regina Beach) – children’s fiction
Brent Moore (Moose Jaw) mentored by Shane Arbuthnott (Regina) – speculative fiction
Rowan F. Neufeld (Saskatoon) mentored by Bruce Rice (Regina) - poetry
This is a free event open to the public; all are welcome. Social reception to follow the program. Please note that this is event is in-person only (no live-streaming option).
The Delta Bessborough Hotel is a fully wheelchair accessible venue. Paid parking available in their parkade.
Hosted by Curt Sanderson.
Please RSVP by emailing [email protected] or visit https://skwriter.com/events-and-workshops/2025-apprentice-reading
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Apprentices in the 2025 Mentorship and Indigenous Mentorship Programs:
Jan Coffey-Olson mentored by J. Jill Robinson
Jan Coffey-Olson was a minister in the United Church of Canada, and then a teacher for high school students who were at risk for most of her working life. She has been writing and imagining stories since she was a youngster. It always starts with those famous words, “What if ...?” Then characters, situations, and ideas can start to explode until her fingers can hardly keep up. Most of her current stories are set in novels although she has written a handful of monologues, short plays, a few poems, lots of sermons, and some short stories, one of which was published in Spring (2022). Jan’s current focus is on editing and finishing her first novel for publishing. However, new ideas and stories also continue to intrigue her. She lives with her husband and cat in Rosetown, where she is retired but still preaching, teaching, serving on Town Council, playing the crazy old lady in local drama, and being Gramma.
J. Jill Robinson writes creative nonfiction and fiction on Galiano Island, B.C. She is the author of The Land of Not Knowing, a memoir in stories. Other work recently appeared in Room.
Jennifer Gardiner mentored by Carol Rose GoldenEagle
Jennifer Gardiner is a Metis writer from Leask, Saskatchewan. She is a wife, home educator and mother to 4 beautiful daughters, and missionary who loves to learn alongside her children especially on the land. Jennifer appreciates and practises many forms of art and loves creating. She uses her writing as a tool to serve and share and can be found doing workshops in communities around the province.
Carol Rose GoldenEagle is a Saskatchewan Author of award-winning novel Bearskin Diary. It was chosen as the national Aboriginal Literature Title for 2017. It was also shortlisted for 3 Saskatchewan Book Awards. The French language translation of this novel, entitled Peau D’ours won a Saskatchewan Book Award in 2019. Her first book of poetry Hiraeth was shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award in 2019. Her second novel Bone Black was released in 2018 and shortlisted for 2 Saskatchewan Book Awards. Her 4th novel, Narrows of Fear, was released in Fall 2020. She has also had two subsequent collections of poetry released, since 2021 - Essential Ingredients and Stations of the Crossed. Her next novel Joe is set for release in late 2024, as well as a children’s title, Mother Earth, My Favourite Author.
Brent Moore mentored by Shane Arbuthnott
Brent Moore grew up reading books and dreaming of writing his own one day. Raised in Ontario, he worked in Asia for several years and currently calls Moose Jaw home. His writing for this mentorship project imagines what it will be like for young men growing up with the next generation of social media and augmented reality technology.
Shane Arbuthnott is the author of Guardians of Porthaven, as well as the Molly Stout series. His novels have been nominated for multiple awards, including the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for his debut novel, Dominion. His short fiction has appeared in On Spec and Open Spaces. Shane grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and now lives in Regina with his family. For more information on Shane and his books, visit www.shanearbuthnott.com.
Rowan F. Neufeld mentored by Bruce Rice
Rowan F. Neufeld (he/they) is a poet from Saskatoon on Treaty Six Territory. His work has been published in Silence Zine and Poetry All Over the Floor: Volume One. When they’re not writing poems, you’ll find them papercrafting or distracted by birds. Rowan is also the Executive Director of JackPine Press, a limited-run chapbook publisher.
Bruce Rice is a previous Saskatchewan Poet Laureate, an essayist, and editor. His new essays in Standstill: A Hopewell Earthworks Daybook and Other Essays (Long Road Press 2024) range from Ohio’s 2000-year-old earthworks to art that has saved lives, and those who have lost part or all of their power of speech. The Vivian Poems (Radiant Press 2020), on the life and work of street photographer, Vivian Maier, is the most recent of his six poetry collections. A documentarian of family and community stories, the vanishing prairie and the North—art is a presence in most of his work. Bruce lives in Regina on Treaty 4 territory and the homeland of the Métis, where he spends the summer conversing with coyotes and the trout he keeps in his brother’s dugout.
Host
Curt Sanderson is a father of two from the Mistawasis First Nation. When he’s not writing, he works at the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre, supporting Indigenous students. He is proud to be on his recovery journey. Curt has been clean and sober since September 28, 2020. Curt is writing a memoir about his life and his struggle with addiction. He completed the Indigenous Mentorship program in 2024 to learn new skills that will help him complete his book.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Delta Hotels by Marriott Bessborough, 601 Spadina Crescent East,Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
