SAAWCA’s Critics Mentorship Programme 2013

The recipients of SAAWCA’s Critics Mentorship Programme 2013 are Sakhiziwe Gcina and Murray Kruger. Gcina is a third-year student in Film and Media at the University of Cape Town and he will be mentored by Matthew Krouse, the arts editor at the Mail & Guardian.

“Being an arts journalist, critic and media professional is challenging and demanding. The field is fiercely competitive and dynamic. Given these pressures one has to be not only passionate about art journalism, but should be exposed to these stresses in the media industry early in their training,” observed Gcina.

Kruger is an artist and curator, completing his masters in Fine Arts at Wits University.  He will be mentored by Mary Corrigall, the Books Editor and Senior Feature Writer at the Sunday Independent.

“My primary interest is to look deeper into the implied relationships between performance and these respective modes of production, ideally laying the foundation for a workable multi-modal practice that does not privilege one of these particular disciplines. I see this 2013 Critics Mentorship Programme as a structured context within which to return to arts writing.”

After spending the month of June under the guidance of Krouse and Corrigall, Gcina and Kruger will travel to the National Arts Festival where they will write and publish reports on the festival. This is the second year that the Critics Mentorship Programme has been running. This year it has been funded by the Goethe-Institut. This support has allowed the programme to be expanded to include two candidates.

The programme was initiated by Corrigall, the head and founder of SAAWCA, in an attempt to encourage and nurture new arts writers and critics.

Call for Critics/Writers Mentorship Programme 2013

The  South African Arts Writers and Critics Association is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2013 Critics Mentorship Programme. With the support of the Goethe-Institut this year the programme has been expanded and will offer two individuals an opportunity to be mentored by established critics/writers.

How does it work? Participants will spend a month under the guidance of a mentor before attending the National Arts Festival, where they will be expected to write reviews, interviews and features, which will be published in local, national or niche publications.

The mentorship period beings June 4 and exposes the participants to the working life of a critic/writer which would include attending arts related events, conducting interviews and engaging in research activities with the mentor, as well as spending time at the offices of a mainstream print publication.  In this way the participant will gain insight into the general running of a media organisation. During this period the mentor will set a number of writing assignments for the participant. They will be given detailed feedback for each assignment and if the standard of the work is high, these assignments may be considered for publication.

Who should apply? Young freelance arts writers/bloggers who are struggling to get a foothold in the industry. Any aspiring or young/new arts writer, critic with an aptitude for, and or, experience in writing, cultivated through university studies, a journalism course or any other writing workshop. Applicants must be knowledgeable about one discipline of the arts and have an interest in another. This is not a full-time programme but the participants will need to be available during weekday hours and evenings to attend events, complete writing assignments and observe the workings of a newspaper.  The participant will also be required to travel to Grahamstown for the festival – travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the programme and they will be given a stipend.

At this time the mentorship programme will only be available to Joburg based participants. Those who already have experience in arts writing and criticism will be given preference. Ultimately we are looking to provide guidance to an individual who has already shown talent in arts writing but requires a close level of mentorship to develop their work further. 

Criteria: A participant will be selected based on the strength of his/her writing abilities and knowledge or affinity for the arts and their grasp on journalistic conventions. Short listed candidates may have to produce a short review to secure a place on the programme.

Deadline:  May 13, 2013.  Please send a copy of your CV, a short letter of motivation outlining which discipline or disciplines of the arts you are interested in, as well as two examples of arts writing. Please title your mail: Mentorship programme application. Send your applications or any queries to mary@plotbeep.co.za or criticsassoc@gmail.com