BOOK REVIEW MENTORING

Book reviewing is a vital bow in many writers’ portfolio; it is one of the most reliable and accessible ways of getting published. If you would like to try your hand at writing book reviews/essays but don't know where to start, I can be your guide. In our one-on-one mentoring, I approach book reviews as a meeting ground between the text and a particular reader – you, the critic. The ways to interpret and experience a book are as endless as the people who read them, similarly a review can take many forms.

But critical to a review is the unfolding of a particular viewpoint/s and argument – your own – in response to the text; we will look at ways to construct a coherent narrative within a review and how to evaluate the 'success' of a text against its own objectives and goals. We will also approach writing book reviews as an artform in itself.

No need to have studied literature (I didn’t!), just have a love for reading and a desire to understand why we may love/hate/are indifferent to a particular book. The mentoring will also touch on practical aspects of pitching and getting published.