Mentoring with Heidi Williamson
Explore Heidi Williamson’s mentoring offer, aimed at developing your poetry.
Seek expert advice, tackle creative blockages and prepare your manuscript for publication
Looking for advice? Need feedback on your writing? Writers of all kinds often face challenges, from finding the time to write and tackling creative blockages to preparing manuscripts for publication. This is why NCW offers flexible mentoring packages through which writers can work one-to-one with an experienced mentor to overcome all kinds of obstacles.
Heidi’s area of expertise: poetry
Heidi Williamson is an award-winning poet and experienced tutor mentor for The Poetry School, National Centre for Writing and The Writing Coach. Her sessions are suitable for:
- Those new to poetry who would like a constructive and confidential reading of their work to identify strengths and challenges
- Poets looking to start publishing their work – whether in magazines, competitions, or self-published
- Those looking to move to the next stage in their writing – perhaps collating a pamphlet or collection, starting a next book or a new project
- Published poets looking for strategies to stretch themselves and their writing and take their work forwards.
Mentoring works best as a sustained relationship over a period of time. You can book a single session with Heidi, or multiple sessions. Book three or more sessions in one transaction with the same mentor and receive a 10% discount. This discount will be automatically applied to your basket.
How it works
For each session, you can send Heidi up to 10 poems, not exceeding 300 lines in total, one week before you meet. During the one-hour session, Heidi will give you feedback on your writing and discuss where you are with your work and where you want to be. She will suggest writing exercises, give reading recommendations, point you towards online resources and support you can use to develop your work and yourself as a writer. Together you will plan small practical steps to give you strategies and confidence to move forward.
Ready to book?
Single or introductory mentoring session
£95 for one, one-hour session
Trying mentoring for the first time? Seeking help for a particular challenge? Book a single, hour-long session with one of our experienced mentors and receive in-depth advice on taking your writing forward.
Single mentoring sessions are great if:
- You are new to mentoring and would like a taster of what the relationship can offer;
- You would like an introduction to your chosen mentor before embarking on a sustained period of support;
- You have a particular challenge or area of advice you would like to address.
Book your one-off session from the available dates on this page.
If your one-off mentoring session is a success, we recommend booking our ‘Aspire: mentoring package’ of three sessions or more.
Aspire: mentoring package (three session minimum)
From £285 (save 10% when booking three sessions or more)
Dedicate time to improving your craft and overcoming obstacles in your writing life with a bespoke package of support from an experienced writer mentor.
Develop a long-term, professional relationship with your mentor and together you can refine your manuscript, work on a funding application or implement an action plan to improve your creative practice — whatever it is that will help you to achieve your writing goals.
A mentoring package of three sessions minimum or more is great for writers who:
- Have drafted a manuscript and would like feedback and suggestions for improvement;
- Are ready to publish their work and would like advice on how to pitch to agents or find a publisher;
- Are at the early stages of a piece of work, or perhaps aren’t working on a particular project, and would like regular guidance and feedback on how to improve elements of their craft;
- Want to apply for funding, development opportunities, or find ways to create new avenues for income as a writer.
Your mentoring sessions will be tailored to your individual needs, so you can bring any creative challenges to the table.
Book three or more sessions in one transaction with the same mentor and receive a 10% discount on your total purchase. This discount will be automatically applied to your basket.
What others have said
‘The session with Heidi was excellent. She is very at home with working in this way and I felt at ease and able to explore thoughts and ideas which felt quite tentative. Her observations about my poems were precise and astute and for each comment there was a suggestion for how I might proceed. It was a thoroughly happy and rewarding experience.’ – LH, Poet
‘I needed an outside, objective assessment of my writing from an experienced poet and that is exactly what I got. She seemed to grasp intuitively, exactly what I wanted to express. I have re-read the notes I made several times now. I found it invaluable and was still buzzing the next day. I wished I had done it sooner.’ – IS, Poet
Heidi Williamson
Heidi Williamson’s first collection Electric Shadow (Bloodaxe, 2011) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize. The Print Museum (Bloodaxe, 2016) won the Book by the Cover Award and the East Anglian Book Award for Poetry. Heidi works with poets worldwide by Skype as a Poetry Surgeon for The Poetry Society, teaches for The Poetry School, and mentors writers through the National Centre for Writing, The Poetry School and The Writing Coach. She is the current Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of East Anglia. Website
Image (c) Angela Adams
