APPRENTICESHIPS 2010 – Selection panel & mentors

Every year the five successful apprentices are drawn from open competition by a panel of experts. Past panelists include Laura Longrigg from MBA Literary Agency, Clare Conville from Conville Walsh, Rupert Heath Associates, Stephanie Glencross from Jane Gregory Associates. This year the selection was made by Hannah Westland, from leading literary agency Rogers, Coleridge, White, Brian Keaney and Marion Urch, the director of Adventures In Fiction.

We are now able to draw upon a pool of mentors with expertise in the following areas – commercial and literary fiction, crime, science fiction, fantasy, fiction for children (8+ and teenage), adventure, historical adventure and romance, postmodernism, dirty realism, middle-market commercial women’s fiction, memoir, autobiography, literary historical, thrillers, psycho-thrillers, comic fiction, satire, horror, chicklit, modern gothic and romantic fiction for mature readers among others. The key mentors for this year include Catherine Johnston, Brian Keaney, Liz Williams, Laura Wilson, Jane Adams, Sarah Bower, and Marion Urch.

HANNAH WESTLAND
Hannah Westland joined Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd in 2002, working with both Deborah Rogers and David Miller. She is building her own list of authors and is particularly interested in debut fiction and non-fiction.

RUPERT HEATH
Rupert Heath founded his eponymous literary agency in 2001, and has gone on to represent writers across the spectrum, ranging from historical, crime and literary fiction to memoirs, humour and business. His clients include Robyn Young, who has been the UK's bestselling debut author of 2006-2007. Before becoming an agent Rupert spent six years as a book editor, most recently for Pan Macmillan.

BRIAN KEANEY
Brian Keaney is an acclaimed children’s author and a specialist in the market for children’s fiction. As the author of sixteen novels for young people, his writing has been translated into eleven languages and shortlisted for several awards. He has also worked within the publishing industry as a series editor for both MacMillan Education and Stanley Thomas Publishing. His teaching experience ranges from one-to-one coaching to running intensive workshops. In 2006 he was the Royal Literary Writing Fellow at the City and Guilds School of Art, London.

MARION URCH
Marion Urch is the director of Adventures In Fiction. She is also a novelist and writer of short stories, with credits for film, radio and television. With over ten years experience within the publishing and literary community, she established Adventures In Fiction in 2003 in response to a growing demand for a comprehensive writer-oriented programme. Her novel An Invitation to Dance was recently published in Britain, Ireland and Russia. (Brandon 2009)

CATHERINE JOHNSON
Catherine Johnson has written eleven novels for children and Young Adults. She also has writing credits for film and television, including Bullet Boy and Rough Crossings. She has been writer-in-residence in Holloway Prison, mentored writers for the Royal Literary Fund and the British Council and taught creative writing in London, Albania and Malawi. Her latest book is A Nest of Vipers. (Random House 2008)

LIZ WILLIAMS
Liz Williams is a science fiction and fantasy writer living in Glastonbury, England. She is the author of nine novels and one short story collection and is published in Bantam (US) and Tor Macmillan (UK). Her work regularly appears in Realms of Fantasy, Asimov's and other magazines. Her novel Banner of Souls has been nominated for both the Philip K Dick Memorial Award and the Arthur C Clarke Award.

LAURA WILSON
Laura Wilson is an awarding winning crime writer. Her fourth novel The Lover won the 2004 Prix du Polar Europeen for Best Crime Novel of the Year In Translation and was also shortlisted for the 2004 Gold Dagger and the Ellis Peters Award. In 2008, she won the Ellis Peters Award with her seventh novel Stratton’s War.

SARAH BOWER
Sara Bower is the author of two critically acclaimed historical novels, The Needle in the Blood and The Book of Love. (Snowbooks 2007 & 2008) She is also a prize-winning short story writer. She teaches creative writing at UEA and the Open University.

JANE ADAMS
Jane Adams  writes in a range of genres, primarily crime, but also science
fiction, fantasy and gothic horror. Her twenty one novels, published
variously by Macmillan, Allison and Busby and Severn House, include a number of highly popular series (Naomi Blake and Rini Martin) and have been translated into a dozen languages. She is a Royal Literary Fellow at Nottingham Trent University.

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