Loft Mentor Series Grant

The Loft Mentor Series supports twelve early career writers in Minnesota to collaborate with eight acclaimed mentors in poetry and prose. Funded by the Jerome Foundation and NEA, fellows receive $2,800 to assist with program costs, ensuring they can focus on refining their craft and connecting with the literary community.

The Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose offers twelve early career Minnesota writers the opportunity to work intensively with eight nationally acclaimed writers of prose and poetry for one fellowship year. Offered since 1979, the Mentor Series is the Loft's oldest mentorship program. The Mentor Series is funded by the Jerome Foundation, the NEA, and Loft Members.
Twelve early career writers are selected through a competitive judging process to work intensively with eight nationally acclaimed writers of prose and poetry. The four local mentors spend an extended period of time working with the entire group and conduct genre-specific workshops and individual conferences with the three writers in their genres. The four visiting mentors come in for intensive weekends of craft seminars with the full group and individual manuscript conferences with the writers in their genre. All participants are featured in a public reading—three fellows with two mentors—throughout the course of the program.
Fellows are selected on the basis of the strength of their manuscripts and project plans and will receive an award of $2,800 to defray the costs of program participation (book purchases, child care, etc.). Fellows are required to prepare for and attend all program-related meetings, seminars, readings, workshops, manuscript conferences, and social activities. These activities may be virtual or in-person.