DEADLINE EXTENDED!
New deadline: midnight Central time, October 29, 2022

J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Award

The application period for the J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Award is closed. Please contact the NSN office if you have any questions.

Application Process

1. Before applying you should identify and come to a preliminary agreement with a storytelling mentor (who must be a well-respected, seasoned storyteller) from whom you would like to receive coaching. With the mentor, plan coaching and/or workshop sessions that both of you feel are appropriate to your needs. The mentoring must take place within the 2023 calendar year.
2. Submission of videos: By October 29, 2022, you must post online and provide the J.J. Reneaux Committee with the URLs to 10-20 minutes of video recording of your storytelling that demonstrates your strengths and performance characteristics. (We recommend, but do not require, that you record performances before an audience.) Your application submission should contain samples of two different pieces of work (if possible, one complete). Please review your recordings for video quality and clear sound before you submit them.
3. Applications must be submitted by midnight, Central time, October 29, 2022, using the online form below. Applications must include:
   1. A letter (no longer than 700 words) describing:
      • Your background and the path you are on as a performer;
      • Your sense of your current artistic strengths;
      • What you feel you need to develop at this point to move your storytelling gift forward (be sure to consider this carefully!);
      • Why you would like to work with the mentor you have chosen;
      • The URL(s) of the video(s) you have submitted;
      • Descriptions of the stories you have submitted: titles, dates and venues of performances, how the stories relate to your repertoire and your qualities as a storyteller.
   2. A letter from your potential mentor, explaining:
      • The mentor’s willingness to provide coaching and/or workshops;
      • The skills that will be the focus of your mutual work;
      • The plan of mentoring work that you and the mentor will undertake.
   3. Your résumé (no longer than two pages).
   4. The mentor’s résumé (no longer than two pages).
   5. References: Names and contact information (telephone, email, postal addresses) for three people who can comment knowledgeably on your storytelling – preferably either professional storytellers or sponsors of venues where you have performed. You should identify these people and tell the committee briefly when and where they have seen your work. (The review committee may contact the references, should they need further information.)

The results of the Mentorship Grant competition will be announced in November 2022.

results of the Mentorship Grant will be announced in November 2022.

Past Recipients of the J.J. Reneaux Mentorship Grant