Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle
Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle
The Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle is a six-month mentorship and workshop program for
emerging First Nations, Inuit and Métis writers in Canada looking to elevate their stories.
The 2025 program will launch on June 2nd; apply to participate today!
emerging First Nations, Inuit and Métis writers in Canada looking to elevate their stories.
The 2025 program will launch on June 2nd; apply to participate today!
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About the Indigenous Writers' Circle
About the Indigenous Writers' Circle
As a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, Audible invests in the creative economy worldwide, fostering communities of performers, writers, sound engineers, and other creatives. We help equip emerging storytellers around the world with the skills to bring their work to life. As part of this mission, we work to elevate the voices of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, to enhance equity and support reconciliation.
The Indigenous Writers’ Circle supports the next wave of emerging Indigenous writers by leveraging Audible’s resources and connections with the creative community to provide mentorship and learning opportunities to help program participants tell their stories.
Emerging writers in the program are paired with Indigenous mentors who coach and guide participants through the creative process. They will help them identify and pursue opportunities aligning with their goals as writers.
Participants will also benefit from immersive workshops where they will learn from some of the industry’s leading creators, publishers, content managers, writers and marketers.
Audible will provide additional support to participants throughout the program, including guidance on how participants can promote their work. At the end of the program, participants may explore opportunities with Audible depending on the stage each writer is at in their creative work and how they choose to share their writing.
Each selected emerging writer is eligible for a $ 1,500 CAD bursary to support their participation in the Indigenous Writers’ Circle, and there is no cost to participate in the program.
The Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle supports equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, physical ability or disability.
The 2025 program year will begin on June 2nd and end on December 19th.
The Indigenous Writers’ Circle supports the next wave of emerging Indigenous writers by leveraging Audible’s resources and connections with the creative community to provide mentorship and learning opportunities to help program participants tell their stories.
Emerging writers in the program are paired with Indigenous mentors who coach and guide participants through the creative process. They will help them identify and pursue opportunities aligning with their goals as writers.
Participants will also benefit from immersive workshops where they will learn from some of the industry’s leading creators, publishers, content managers, writers and marketers.
Audible will provide additional support to participants throughout the program, including guidance on how participants can promote their work. At the end of the program, participants may explore opportunities with Audible depending on the stage each writer is at in their creative work and how they choose to share their writing.
Each selected emerging writer is eligible for a $ 1,500 CAD bursary to support their participation in the Indigenous Writers’ Circle, and there is no cost to participate in the program.
The Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle supports equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, physical ability or disability.
The 2025 program year will begin on June 2nd and end on December 19th.
Meet the mentors
Meet the mentors
January Rogers
January Rogers
January Rogers, a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer and media producer, lives on Six Nations of the Grand River, running Ojistoh Publishing and Productions. She blends literature with media, creating audio and video poetry. Her video poem Ego of a Nation won Best Music Video at AIIF 2020, and her audio work The Battle Within won Best Experimental Audio at imagineNative 2021. A literary mentor with Audible’s Indigenous Writers Circle since 2022, she wrote the 10-episode comedy NDNs on the Airwaves and the play Blood Sport, a 2023 Indie Book Awards Finalist. She has numerous radio producer credits, including A Day to Listen (2024), Words and Culture (SiriusXM 2024), and guest-hosting The Kim Wheeler Show (SiriusXM 2024).
A recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories, Richard Van Camp is a proud Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith, NWT. He is the author of 30 books in 30 years. His work has been adapted into a feature film, such as his novel, The Lesser Blessed, and his graphic novel with Neiva Mateus, Three Feathers, as well as several of his short stories like "Wheetago War" (from his collection Night Moves, published by Enfield & Wizenty, which was adapted as "Inkwo for When the Starving Return" with the National Film Board and Spotted Fawn Productions. You are welcome to visit Richard on Facebook, BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, Soundcloud and YouTube and at www.richardvancamp.com.
Tanya Talaga is an acclaimed and award-winning journalist and author of national bestsellers Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations: Finding The Path Forward. Her Audible Original series, Seven Truths, features her personal story of fighting for Indigenous rights. Tanya heads up Makwa Creative Inc., a production company focused on amplifying Indigenous voices through documentary films, TV and podcasts. Tanya is a member of Fort William First Nation. She has five honorary doctorates.
Josh Whitehead
Josh Whitehead
Josh Whitehead (he / him) is an Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit writer and academic from Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is the author of full-metal indigiqueer (Talonbooks 2017), Jonny Appleseed (Arsenal Pulp 2018), Making Love with the Land (Knopf 2022), and Indigiqueerness: a Conversation about Storytelling (Athabasca UP 2023) as well as the editor of Love after the End: an Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction (Arsenal 2020). Currently, Whitehead is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary (Treaty 7) where he is housed in the departments of English and International Indigenous Studies.
Reneltta Arluk
Reneltta Arluk
Reneltta Arluk is a writer and actor of Inuvialuit and Chipewyan-Cree descent, originally from the Northwest Territories. Being raised in a nomadic environment gave her the skills and imagination to become the writer and storyteller she is. As Banff Centre's former Director of Indigenous Arts, Reneltta has helped numerous Indigenous artists discover their voices and turn their ideas into reality. Reneltta moved to Vancouver from Banff in 2023 and started a new position at the National Gallery of Canada.
Warren Cariou
Warren Cariou
Warren Cariou was born in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, into a family of Métis and European heritage. Though he has lived away from Meadow Lake for many years, his art and academic work maintain a focus on the cultural and environmental questions that have preoccupied the people of his homeland. His books, films, photography and scholarly research explore community, environment, orality and belonging themes in the Canadian West, particularly focusing on the relationships between Indigenous stories and the land.
Jordan Abel is a queer Nisga’a writer from Vancouver. He is the author of The Place of Scraps (winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize), Un/inhabited, and Injun (winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize). NISHGA won both the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and the VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres award, and was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction, and the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize. Abel’s latest work–a novel titled Empty Spaces– was published by McClelland & Stewart and Yale University Press, and was the winner of the Governor General’s Award for fiction. Abel completed a Ph.D. at Simon Fraser University in 2019, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta where he teaches Indigenous Literatures, Research-Creation, and Creative Writing.
Program eligibility
Program eligibility
The Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle invites emerging writers who self-identify as First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis and meet the following criteria to apply for the six-month program.
You are a great fit if you self-identify as First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis and:
- Have background knowledge, interest or training in writing. This could include self-study, mentorships, academic study or a combination of these types of training
- Are pursuing or considering pursuing a career in literary arts
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Can provide an example of your literary work
- Examples of your work can include works of fiction, non-fiction, biographies/autobiographies, memoirs, graphic novels, illustrated books, blogs, poetry, children’s literature, audiobooks and narrative podcasts.
- Are at least 18 years old as of January 1, 2025
- Reside in Canada (at this time, residents of Quebec are not eligible for the program due to provincial regulations)
Assessment process and guidelines
Applicants will be assessed by a panel led by Indigenous literary artists. The panel will consider the following when reviewing each application:
- The strength of the artistic intention for the sample of work
- Potential benefits of the Indigenous Writers’ Circle to the development of the applicant’s practice
We sincerely thank all applicants for their interest. Upon submission, you will receive a notification via email that your application has been received. Once reviewed, all applicants will be contacted regarding the status of their application.
How you can apply
How you can apply
Applications for the 2025 program are now being accepted! Please fill out an application here: https://audibleindigenouswriterscircle.formstack.com/forms/applications_2025. The application deadline is Monday, April 21, at 11:59 pm Pacific Daylight Saving Time. Email audiblewriterscircle@yulupr.com for any questions about the application process or program.
In your application, you’ll be asked to share the following:
In your application, you’ll be asked to share the following:
- Your name, contact information and the form(s) of literary art you practice
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A personal reflection (maximum 500 words), indicating:
- Why you wish to participate in this program, what you hope to contribute and learn, and what impact it could have on your future practice
- A description of your writing practice
- A brief overview of your body of work to date. This could include short descriptions of any talks or workshops you’ve given, readings you’ve done, work you've published (online, audio, print, etc.), or community engagement experience you have that is related to the literary arts.
- If you could choose any writer, living or deceased, to work with as your mentor, who would you select and why?
- Please provide a single sample of your work in written or audio format. The accepted file types are Word, Google Doc, MP3 or M4A. If you submit a poem under 500 words, you may include a secondary and third piece of poetry, so long as you do not exceed the 2,500-word limit.
- Submissions should not exceed 2,500 words or 15 minutes in length. The file size limit is 10MB. If your sample of work exceeds the maximum word count, it will be trimmed to 2,500 words.
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Submissions can be fiction, non-fiction, biographies/autobiographies, children's literature, poetry, memoirs, graphic novels, illustrated books, blogs, audiobooks and narrative podcasts.
- If you would like to submit a piece of work that falls outside this list, please contact us with your request at audiblewriterscircle@yulupr.com.
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Your answers to three voluntary Indigenous self-identification questions.
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Proof of Indigenous ancestry is not required. The information collected will be confidential. In the context of these voluntary self-identification questions, an Indigenous person in Canada, as recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982, is a person who identifies with First Nations (Status / Non-Status), Inuit or Métis cultural and/or ancestral background.
- Based on this definition, do you attest and self-identify as an Indigenous person? Please indicate yes or no.
- Do you identify with any of these specific identities? Please indicate all that apply to you: First Nations (Status/Non-Status), Inuit, Métis, Alternate identity term (e.g. Kanien’kehá:ka, Anishinaabe, Treaty #3, etc.).
- What community/nation/group are you affiliated with? Please specify or indicate unknown or unsure.
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Proof of Indigenous ancestry is not required. The information collected will be confidential. In the context of these voluntary self-identification questions, an Indigenous person in Canada, as recognized in the Constitution Act, 1982, is a person who identifies with First Nations (Status / Non-Status), Inuit or Métis cultural and/or ancestral background.
Questions about the application process can be emailed to audiblewriterscircle@yulupr.com.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Mentor alumni
Mentor alumni
Waubgeshig Rice - 2024 mentor
Waubgeshig Rice - 2024 mentor
Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation. He has written four fiction titles, and his short stories and essays have been published in numerous anthologies. His breakthrough novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was published in 2018 and became a national bestseller. The sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, was published in October 2023. He graduated from the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2002 and spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist and radio host. He lives in Sudbury, Ontario, with his wife and three sons.
Alicia Elliott - 2023 mentor
Alicia Elliott - 2023 mentor
Alicia Elliott is a Mohawk writer and editor living in Brantford, Ontario. She has written for The Globe and Mail, CBC, Hazlitt and many others. She’s had numerous essays nominated for National Magazine Awards, winning Gold in 2017 and an honourable mention in 2020. Her short fiction was selected for Best American Short Stories 2018 (by Roxane Gay), Best Canadian Stories 2018, and Journey Prize Stories 30. Alicia was chosen by Tanya Talaga as the 2018 recipient of the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award. Her first book, A Mind Spread Out On The Ground, was a national bestseller in Canada. It was also nominated for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and won the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award.
Jessica Johns - 2023 mentor
Jessica Johns - 2023 mentor
Jessica Johns is a nehiyaw aunty with English-Irish ancestry and a member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta. She is an interdisciplinary artist and award-winning writer whose debut novel, Bad Cree, was released in January 2023. She serves on the editorial board for GUTS – an anti-colonial feminist magazine and the advisory board for the Indigenous Brilliance reading series.
Brandi Morin - 2023 mentor
Brandi Morin - 2023 mentor
Brandi Morin is an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French multimedia journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta. For the last 10 years Brandi has specialized in sharing Indigenous stories. She is known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America. Brandi’s debut memoir, Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising became a national bestseller within days of its August 2, 2022 release.
Castor Angus - 2023 participant
Castor Angus - 2023 participant
Hailing from the Nisga’a Nation, Castor (he/they) is an accomplished writer currently situated on the traditional lands of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nation in Victoria. Rooted in the world of Theatre and more recently venturing into the realms of opera and live events, Castor's pen remains primarily dedicated to the stage. However, more recently he’s extended his creative reach into the world of literature where he’s set to publish a book for kids about the lives of bears in Alaska.
Jamesie Fournier - 2023 participant
Jamesie Fournier - 2023 participant
Jamesie Fournier enjoys exploring his culture through writing. His work has appeared in various periodicals and the anthologies Coming Home: Stories from the Northwest Territories and Ndè Sı̀ı̀ Wet’aɂà: Northern Indigenous Voices on Land, Life & Art. His debut fiction, The Other Ones, was published in 2022 with Inhabit Media and won silver in the Independent Publisher’s Awards. His debut poetry collection, Elements, was published in 2023, also with Inhabit. A recurrent speaker at the Northwords Writers Festival, Jamesie was runner-up for Up Here’s 2018 Sally Manning Award for Indigenous Creative Non-Fiction. He was part of the 2023 Audible Indigenous Writer’s Circle and the 2023-24 NBC Universal Indigenous Screenwriting Accelerator Program. Born and raised in Nunatsiaq - the Northwest Territories - Jamesie lived the past year in Iqaluit, NU, learning his culture’s language, Inuktitut.
Gin Sexsmith - 2023 participant
Gin Sexsmith - 2023 participant
Gin Sexsmith is a Mohawk writer and musician from Kenhtè:ke living in the under-land-claims town of Deseronto, Ontario. Obsessed with the darker sides of our psyche, Gin’s work explores love, loss, sexuality, and mental illness. Her debut novel, In the Hands of Men, was released in May 2023.
A.W. Hopkins - 2023 participant
A.W. Hopkins - 2023 participant
A.W. Hopkins is a writer and award-winning filmmaker. He has written and directed a feature film and three short films. He is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada. A.W. has taught screenwriting at the InFocus Film School and The School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He has an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently working on several screenplays and a collection of short stories. A.W. Hopkins is a member of the N’Quatqua First Nation and lives in Vancouver, BC.
Angela Sterritt - 2022 Mentor
Angela Sterritt - 2022 Mentor
Angela Sterritt is a Vancouver-based, multi award-winning journalist, author and artist from the Gitanmaax community of the Gitxsan Nation on her dad’s side and from Bell Island Newfoundland on her maternal side. She has climbed from being a vulnerable Indigenous youth living in poverty to becoming one of Canada's top multi-platform journalists. Angela is currently an investigative reporter at CBC Vancouver and in production for a CBC original podcast called Land Back. Her book Unbroken is part memoir and part investigation into the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women. You can follow Angela on Twitter @AngelaSterritt.
Clayton Thomas-Muller - 2022 Mentor
Clayton Thomas-Muller - 2022 Mentor
Clayton Thomas-Muller is a member of the Treaty #6 based Mathias Colomb Cree Nation also known as Pukatawagan located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. He is a campaigner, award-winning film director, media producer, organizer, facilitator, public speaker and author on Indigenous rights and environmental and economic justice. His memoir, Life in the City of Dirty Water, is a 2022 Canada Reads Finalist National Bestseller.
Jas M. Morgan - 2022 Mentor
Jas M. Morgan - 2022 Mentor
Dr. Jas M. Morgan is an award-winning Cree, Saulteaux and Métis writer, artist and professor in the Department of English at Ryerson University. Morgan’s writing has appeared in The Walrus, Malahat Review, Room, GUTS, esse, Teen Vogue, CV2/Prairie Fire, The New Inquiry and other publications. Their research about queer and trans Indigenous art, archives, and futures has been widely published by academic journals and publishers internationally.
The Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle team is grateful to live and work on the ancestral lands of the
still living, still sovereign Munsee Lunaape (lu-naa–pau) peoples, communities and nation.
We recognize the many diverse Indigenous peoples who call this region home — past, present, and future.
still living, still sovereign Munsee Lunaape (lu-naa–pau) peoples, communities and nation.
We recognize the many diverse Indigenous peoples who call this region home — past, present, and future.