Anishinaabe journalist and author Tanya Talaga is addressing a long-standing gap in the publishing industry: access to mentorship for emerging Indigenous writers. 

“When you don’t have mentors, you have to learn everything on your own,” Talaga said. “That’s what we wanted to change. You have a responsibility for carrying the stories you tell. It’s a sacred gift.”

In response to the barriers Indigenous writers continue to face in mainstream publishing, Talaga helped launch the Audible Indigenous Writers Circle in 2021, which pairs Indigenous authors with established mentors. Talaga and her collaborators are helping shape a generation of Indigenous writers ready not only to tell their stories, but to succeed in the business of books.

“We’re training writers not just to craft stories, but to navigate agents, publishers, contracts, and deadlines,” she said. “This is professional development and literary growth combined.”

For many participants, the mentorship accelerates both creative and career trajectories. Past and current mentees have gone on to secure agents, publishing deals, and national recognition. Just as important, the program builds peer networks that extend well beyond the mentorship year.

For Trevor Jang of Witset First Nation, based in Richmond, B.C., the mentorship encouraged him to reexamine a significant loss.

In 1998, he lost his father to an overdose. He published a personal essay in 2017, chronicling that loss and navigating his own addiction. 

Now, with Talaga’s guidance, he is writing Two Eagles Flying, an autobiographical novel about losing his father, addiction, and finding recovery. 

“The mentorship empowered me to go deeper into the story and into my own healing journey in ways I didn’t know were there,” he said.

Read the rest of the article on CBC Radio’s Unreserved.