Writing Mentor

Individual creative writing mentoring, tailored to your particular writing needs, accommodating your schedule.

Location:

Meet in Oak Park or downtown Chicago. Internet/phone/Skype consulations are also an option.

Types of work we can do together:

  • customized writing exercises and homework
  • timed writings together
  • instruction on narrative structure and craft elements such as language, character, point of view, setting, plot, theme
  • story / book critique (generally character/structure/theme-focused, rather than at the sentence level)
  • writing plan / goal-setting
  • suggested reading
  • publishing information and advice

Genres I work in :

  • mainstream / literary fiction
  • creative nonfiction / memoir
  • science fiction / speculative fiction
  • fantasy /dark fantasy
  • erotica

I don’t write mystery, horror, westerns, spy novels, thrillers, or romance generally, but am open to working with material in those genres.

What I won’t be doing:

  • line editing / copyediting / proofing your mansucript
  • connecting you with agents / editors
  • guaranteeing publication
Rates

$75 – $125 / hr, depending on the type of project. Inquire for details. Payment accepted via PayPal (credit card) or check.

Instructor Bio

Mary Anne Mohanraj received her Ph.D. from the University of Utah, specializing in post-colonial literature and creative writing.   She is the author and editor of several books, including BODIES IN MOTION (HarperCollins 2005), an exploration of sexuality, marriage, and Sri Lankan/American immigrant concerns; BODIES IN MOTION was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards. Mohanraj has recently received an Illinois Arts Council fellowship in Prose, a Neff fellowship in English, a Steffenson-Canon fellowship in the Humanities, and the Scowcroft Prize for Fiction.

Mohanraj was founding editor of the magazines STRANGE HORIZONS and CLEAN SHEETS, and now serves as Executive Director of both the SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION (www.speculativeliterature.org) and of DESILIT (www.desilit.org).  Mohanraj teaches fiction writing, post-colonial literature, and Asian-American literature at University of Illinois at Chicago. She has previously taught creative writing and literature at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University and the University of Utah. Her academic research includes an exploration of black masculinity in the work of horror writer Tananarive Due.  She lives in Chicago and is currently writing a nonfiction travelogue/memoir, tentative titled ARBITRARY PASSIONS, as well as a YA fantasy novel and a mainstream literary novel.  Learn more at http://www.maryannemohanraj.com.

Publications:  Books:  THE POET’S JOURNEY, BODIES IN MOTION, SILENCE AND THE WORD, TORN SHAPES OF DESIRE, AQUA EROTICA (ed.), WET (ed.,) KATHRYN IN THE CITY, THE CLASSICS PROFESSOR, A TASTE OF SERENDIB, THE BEST OF STRANGE HORIZONS (ed.).  Short fiction:  “Jump Space” (THOUGHTCRIME EXPERIMENTS), “Lakshmi’s Diary” (OASIS), “A Gentle Man” (HARPUR PALATE), many more.  Nonfiction:  “Raising a Biracial Child” (Disney’s WONDERTIME), “Silence and the Word” (SEX AND SINGLE GIRLS), etc.