Mentoring
“Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art – the art of words.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin
Enhance your retreat
Time and space away from daily responsibilities have transformative powers for creative work. So does careful, knowledgeable feedback from experienced writers in your genre. That’s why we’ve designed a mentoring option for writers who book time with The Ravenshill Project – delivered online, you can work with one of a panel of experienced authors to give structure to your retreat and ensure you get the most out of your writing time.
How it works
Passionate, experienced writers and facilitators, our mentors will breathe new life into any project.
Scroll down to read our mentor profiles and decide who you’d most like to work with, then select this option when booking. If your chosen mentor is available, we will arrange for them to read a sample of your work before you arrive at Ravenshill. We will then schedule an hour-long online tutorial to take place during your retreat time. For longer retreats, additional reading and tutorials can also be arranged.
If your chosen mentor is not available, we will do our best to find you another suitable option. You can also work in-person with your host, Ellen Hardy, an experienced fiction writer and teacher.
Pricing
Our core mentoring package includes a 2,500-word manuscript assessment (or 3 pages of poems, or 12 pages of script) and 1-hour online tutorial for £150. Additional reading and tutorials are priced on application.
Our mentors
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Poetry, playwriting, scriptwriting
Tolu Agbelusi is a poet and artist whose practice spans theatre, film, podcast and photography. Her poetry collection Locating Strongwoman was longlisted for the 2022 Pan African Writers Association Poetry Prize and she was shortlisted for the White Review Poetry Prize. Her work is concerned with the unperformed self and deconstructing received narratives, particularly on womanhood, race and social justice influenced by her experience as a human rights lawyer. Curator and producer of the Forward Prizes’ National Young Poets Summit & its development program, Tolu nurtures and supports the development of writers as editor, mentor and teacher including for Arvon, Literature Works, London Writers’ Centre, London Southbank University, Ignition Press, etc. Her artistic vision extends to screen with short films she’s scripted & directed screening internationally at Forecast International Festival Berlin, MOFAD New York and Toronto Food Film Festival.
To work with Tolu, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Genre fiction, crime, noir, pulp fiction; working-class and marginalised writing; regional vernacular fiction; innovative horror, Southern Gothic and weird fiction.
Tom Benn is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and Associate Professor at UEA. He teaches creative writing at all levels (BA, MA and PhD), and also beyond the academy. His interests include the politics and poetics of genre fiction; classic or revisionist noir, hardboiled and pulp fiction; working-class and marginalised writing and subcultures; regional vernacular fiction; and innovative horror, Southern Gothic and weird fiction.
His essays and fiction have appeared in Granta, the Paris Review and the Conversation. His first novel, The Doll Princess (Cape), was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, and longlisted for the CWA’s John Creasey Dagger. His fourth novel, Oxblood (Bloomsbury), was nominated for the Gordon Burn Prize, the CWA's Gold Dagger, and won the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award.
To work with Tom, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Poetry, children’s fiction.
Genevieve Carver is a poet and author of children’s fiction. She has published three works of poetry: A Beautiful Way to be Crazy (Verve Poetry Press 2020), Landsick (Broken Sleep 2023) and Birds / Humans / Machines / Dolphins (Guillemot Press 2024). Her work often focuses on human-nonhuman relationships and ecologies of place. She has won The Moth Nature Writing Prize and Max Porter has described her writing as ‘deeply funny and very sad at the same time.’
Genevieve’s debut children’s novel, The Ocean and the Bones (Rock the Boat 2026), is a prehistoric adventure story about how to find belonging in a world predicated on difference.
Genevieve has over a decade of experience as a mentor and facilitator and has tutored for organisations including the Scottish Book Trust, the Royal Literary Fund and the Poetry Business.
To work with Genevieve, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Fiction, short fiction.
Michael Donkor studied English at Wadham College, Oxford and then undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, London.
The Observer named him as one of 2018's best debut authors for his first novel Hold (4th Estate) and in 2019, he was longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel Grow Where They Fall was published by Penguin in 2024. He has judged the Betty Trask Prize, the BBC's National Short Story Award and he regularly reviews for the Guardian. He also mentors early career novelists with the Arvon Foundation & the National Centre for Writing.
To work with Michael, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Fiction, short fiction, poetry.
Rebecca Ferrier is a teacher, published author and poet. Her debut novel The Salt Bind (2026, John Murray Press) is a lyrical exploration of grief, healing and womanhood. She was awarded a fully-funded PhD studentship at Northumbria University, was the recipient of a Bridge Award for an Emerging Writer in 2020, and has previously benefited from Creative Scotland funding. She was shortlisted for the international Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize for three consecutive years in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Her short prose can be found with Extra Teeth, Gutter and New Gothic Review, while her poetry has been featured by New Statesman, Propel, Banshee, Under the Radar and Poetry Ireland Review. She’s a member of the RSE-funded DeathWrites network with the Glasgow University Arts Lab and regularly appears at festivals and literary events.
To work with Rebecca, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Short fiction, literary fiction.
Yan Ge was born in Sichuan, China in 1984. She is a fiction writer in both Chinese and English, and is the author of fourteen books in Chinese, including six novels. She has received numerous awards and was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of the twenty future literature masters in China. Her work has been translated into eleven languages, including English, French and German. The latest English translation of her novel, Strange Beasts of China, was one of the New York Times Notable Books of 2021.
Yan’s English writing has appeared in the New York Times, TLS, Granta, the Stinging Fly and elsewhere. Her English language debut short story collection Elsewhere was published by Faber in the UK and Scribner in the USA in 2023 and was named a New Yorker book of the year. Yan lives in Norwich.
To work with Yan, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Speculative fiction, literary fiction.
Martin MacInnes is a writer from the north of Scotland, born in 1983. Since his first publications in 2010, he has worked at the intersection of literary and speculative fiction. He is the bestselling author of three novels, most recently In Ascension, which was longlisted for the Booker prize, named as one of Barack Obama’s ten best books of the year, and is currently being developed for film. He is the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Manchester Fiction Prize, the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, the Saltire Award for Fiction, and Blackwell’s Book of the Year. He is published in 13 languages, and lives in Edinburgh.
To work with Martin, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Poetry, non-fiction, essays.
Garry MacKenzie’s book-length poem Ben Dorain: a conversation with a mountain (The Irish Pages Press, 2021) was shortlisted for a Scottish National Book Award and longlisted for the Highland Book Prize. A section of Ben Dorain was included in Kathleen Jamie’s landmark anthology Antlers of Water (Canongate, 2021), and the poem has been adapted for BBC Radio 4. His next collection Firth, about the social and ecological history of the Firth of Forth, is published in July 2026. He has collaborated with visual artists and filmmakers, and has published three poetry pamphlets with Clutag Press and Wind&Bones. He is also an essayist, and the author of the non-fiction book Scotland: A Literary Guide for Travellers (Bloomsbury, 2016). He teaches freelance literature and writing classes online, and directs the Creative Writing summer programme at the University of St Andrews.
To work with Garry, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Fiction, poetry, essays.
Victoria MacKenzie is a fiction writer, essayist and poet. Her debut novel, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain (Bloomsbury, 2023) won the Saltire First Book Award, was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and was adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Victoria’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in many magazines and anthologies including Extra Teeth, Magma and New Writing Scotland. Her essay, ‘Matters of Life and Death’, was a runner-up in the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize 2025.
From the University of St Andrews she has an MLitt in Creative Writing and a PhD which explored the connections between science and poetry. Her second novel, Each Leaf, Each Curve of Stem, about the Victorian art critic John Ruskin, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2027. She lives in Fife with her husband and son.
To work with Victoria, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Poetry, non-fiction, essays.
Alycia Pirmohamed is the author of the poetry collection Another Way to Split Water. In 2023, her non-fiction debut Shorelines won the Nan Shepherd Prize, and is forthcoming with Canongate in 2026. She also writes poetry criticism, reviews and lyric essays, and she teaches on the Creative Writing Master’s programme at the University of Cambridge and is a Tutor at Granta Writers' Workshops.
To work with Alycia, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Creative non-fiction, biography, memoir, essays, travel and food writing, and narrative history.
Andrew Kenrick holds a PhD in Life Writing from the University of East Anglia. He currently teaches Creative Non-fiction at the University of Cambridge and Biography at CityLit in London. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Hinterland, the triannual magazine of creative non-fiction. He specialises in writing ancient biography, especially focused on marginalised figures from the Roman world. His first full-length book, Rex Juba, a biography of the Roman client-king Juba II of Mauretania, is forthcoming. He lives in Norwich with his partner.
Andrew is experienced at mentoring writers working on biography, memoir, essays, travel and food writing, and narrative history.
To work with Andrew, select this option when you book your retreat.
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Genre fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction and essays.
The founder of The Ravenshill Project, Ellen can provide in-person manuscript feedback and tutorials during your retreat.
Ellen’s stories have been published in The Mechanic’s Institute Review and The Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Award. Her fiction has been shortlisted for Myriad Edition’s First Draft Award. She has also published creative non-fiction, in A Wild and Precious Life: An anthology of recovery stories. Her reviews and journalism have been published in New York Magazine, Time Out, Delayed Gratification, Fire & Knives and many others.
Ellen’s doctoral research in Creative-Critical Writing at UEA was funded by CHASE. Her thesis explored strategies for uncovering voices from the historical record in contemporary literary fiction.
To work with Ellen, select this option when you book your retreat.
Interested in mentoring?
Email theravenshillproject@gmail.com
with a short summary of your experience.
What people are saying about Ravenshill
“Ravenshill is a haven of peace and beauty. It feels a world away – a place to breathe and get thinking space away from day-to-day concerns. It's the perfect setting for focus time on meaningful projects, punctuated by walks in gorgeous countryside. The accommodation is amazing, too.”
– FWB, Creative Director“The days I spent at Ravenshill filled me with serenity. The breathtaking landscape was a constant source of inspiration, and I recharged my creative energy by walking through the ancient wood nearby. There is something quietly magical about the place – it creates the rare space to reconnect deeply with oneself. The impact of the stay is still resonating with me many months later. ”
– YD, Writer and Teacher“The peaceful surroundings and nurturing company I found at Ravenshill allowed me to finally begin a long-delayed writing project. The retreat was the perfect blend of solitude and connection, space and support.”
– DH, Journalist and Writer