The cohort for the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s 2023 Rising Stars program has been announced. The program invites five established Canadian writers to select an emerging talent to mentor.

The program, which was launched in 2019, gives each mentee $5,000, career development and networking opportunities, and a two-week self-directed residency at the Banff Centre.

This year’s Rising Stars are:

Manahil Bandukwala
Mississauga

Work: The poetry collection Monument (Brick Books, 2022).

Mentor: Shani Mootoo

Katia Belkhodja
Montreal

Work: Belkhodja’s her work has appeared in Les écrits, Le Sabord, and Moebius. She is also the author of La peau des doigts (Éditions XYZ, 2008) and La marchande de sable (Éditions XYZ, 2015).

Mentor: Catherine Leroux

Erica Violet Lee
Treaty Six Territory (Saskatoon)

Work: Lee’s poetry has appeared in Brick, Contemporary Verse 2, and Held Magazine. On The Prairies We Will Live Forever, her debut poetry collection, is forthcoming in 2024 with Penguin Random House Canada.

Mentor: Candace Savage

Julie Mannell
Ontario

Work: Mannell was named one of the top 30 poets under 30 by In/Words Magazine. She was also shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize, and is the recipient of the Lionel Shapiro Award for Excellency in Creative Writing, and the Mona Adilman Poetry Prize.

Mentor: Richard Van Camp

Terese Mason Pierre
Toronto

Work: Pierre is the author of Surface Area (Anstruther Press, 2019) and Manifest (Gap Riot Press, 2022). She won the 2023 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. Her work has also been nominated for the bpNichol Chapbook Award and the Rhysling Award.

Mentor: Wayde Compton