The Victorian Mentoring Service for Writers (VMSW) is coordinated by Sydney Smith, and offers mentorships with:

Sydney Smith
Elizabeth Campbell
Jordie Albiston
Claire Gaskin

The VMSW can connect writers with other mentors.

Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith has been a manuscript assessor for ten years, assessing a wide range of genres, including crime/thrillers, literary fiction, YA fiction, children's fantasy and many others. She has also mentored writers for the last five years.

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Poetry mentors

Elizabeth Campbell

Elizabeth Campbell lives in Melbourne, where she was born in 1980. Her poetry has been published widely in Australia in journals and anthologies. She has also published numerous review essays on poetry. Her first collection of poetry, Letters to the Tremulous Hand, was published in 2007 by John Leonard Press. Awards include the 2006 Gwen Harwood Prize. Elizabeth teaches English at Eltham High School.

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Jordie Albiston

Jordie Albiston was born in, & lives in Melbourne. She has published six books of poetry, the most recent being the sonnet according to 'm' (John Leonard Press: 2009). The Fall (2003) was shortlisted for Premier's Prizes in Victoria, NSW & Queensland. Two of her collections have been adapted for music-theatre by Sydney composer Andree Greenwell: both enjoyed recent seasons at the Sydney Opera House, and are available on cd. Jordie holds a PhD in literature, and is currently working under an Arts Victoria grant for a collection of sonnets.

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Claire Gaskin

Claire Gaskin has taught literature and professional writing for twenty years, and has been publishing her poetry in literary journals since 1985. Her book of poems, A Bud, was published by John Leonard Press in 2006, and was shortlisted for the John Bray Award for Poetry in 2008. She is the Victorian editor for the literary journal, Blue Dog.