Francesca Beard, Louise Doughty, Joe Dunthorne and Adam Foulds to be Rathbones Folio Mentors

Francesca Beard, Louise Doughty, Joe Dunthorne and Adam Foulds are confirmed as mentors for the second year of the Rathbones Folio Mentorship scheme, in association with First Story. These four Folio Academy Members were selected by ballot from a pool of over 100 writers who put themselves forward for the second year of the Rathbones Folio Mentorships.

Each Folio Academy Member has been paired with one of four students of outstanding talent who took part in this year’s First Story writing residencies, which take place in dozens of different schools across the country – particularly in areas of deprivation and disadvantage – and work with over 1300 young people.

The four mentors and their mentees will meet face-to-face throughout the 2018/19 academic year, in addition to corresponding online. Throughout, the mentees will work on an agreed creative writing project, culminating in a showcase event for the public at the British Library, on 19 May 2019, which will take place as part of the lead up to the Rathbones Folio Prize Ceremony 2019.

First Story, founded by writer and former teacher, Katie Waldegrave, and the writer, William Fiennes, brings talented professional writers into over 85 secondary schools serving low-income communities across the UK to work with teachers and students to foster creativity and communication skills.

Download the full press release here.