Marele Day Tribute

Marele Day farewells Residential Mentorship

After twenty years, celebrated local author Marele Day is stepping down from her role as leader of one of Byron Writers Festival’s key longstanding initiatives, the Residential Mentorship. In that time, she has nurtured the talents of countless writers from both near and far – and here we present messages from just a few of them, paying tribute to how Marele’s mentorship has encouraged, motivated, transformed and inspired.

Participating in the mentorship with Marele was a real turning point for me. It boosted my confidence and increased my skill in fine-tuning prose and structure. Even though it’s a long time ago now, Marele’s careful attention to finding the perfect word for every occasion has stayed with me. Her supportive feedback allowed me to feel like a true writer for the first time. Marele is a wise, welcoming, and generous mentor and friend to many. She’s given her writerly support to countless budding manuscripts, gently suggesting ways to tighten slips of logic, untangle woolly ambiguities, galvanise unwieldy structures, and distil voice, theme and plot. Her encouragement to keep on going and her integrity, clarity, and worldly savoir faire have

Marele’s quirky sense of humour, which manifests in her own fiction, also made the mentorship a lot of fun. When I try to think of an elevator pitch for my novels, I often remember her pitch for Lambs of God – ‘three feral nuns’. How could you go past it? — Lisa Walker, author of Trouble Is My Business (Wakefield Press, 2021). Residential Mentorship 2004.

made all the difference in putting Northern Rivers writers’ work into the hands of publishers and new books on to shelves. Thank you Marele for picking the locks on so many doors and for keeping those doors open for others yet to come. Merci beaucoup. — Emma Ashmere, author of Dreams They Forgot (Wakefield Press, 2020). Residential Mentorship 2010. Quite simply, I don't think my manuscript Harry Mac would have been in good enough shape for publication if it hadn't been for Marele's input. I took part in two Residential Mentorships under Marele; once as a raw emerging writer, and the second with a greater awareness of what's required to make a manuscript sing. Marele's great strength is her astonishingly sharp eye for what works and what doesn't, and an open mind to the wonderful possibilities of stories. That much is self-evident through her own writings, from hard-boiled crime to the dreamy inner life of exotic characters. She manages to deliver often tough comment to her writing wards with a gentleness that belies her unyielding commitment to excellence. It always leaves the writer inspired, not discouraged, and that's why I'll always treasure the time working with Marele. — Russell Eldridge, author of Harry Mac (Allen & Unwin. 2015). Residential Mentorship 2010 and 2013.

I was honoured to be invited to one of the final years of Marele’s Mentorship Program, run through Byron Writers Festival. Marele was about more than assessing manuscripts. Her passion was honing the craft and helping writers to harness the voice within. On arrival at the mentorship, Marele met with me to discuss my manuscript. She probed, she questioned, she held a light to my work and showed me where the fabric was snagging, where it was strong. She treated our manuscripts with the same care, critique and seriousness with which she treated her own. And she said to her four mentees, ‘Time spent staring out the window is never wasted. It’s an essential, productive part of the creative process for a writer. We must permit ourselves to do it.’ To this day, I refuse to feel guilty for staring out of windows! — Hayley Lawrence, author of The Other Side of Tomorrow (Scholastic, 2022). Residential Mentorship 2019.

When Marele Day picked my story out of many and offered me my first Byron Writers Festival Residential Mentorship, she changed my life. No longer did I dream of becoming a writer. She made me one. For that week anyway. She recognised something in me that gave me the courage and the confidence to pursue a dream. Many years and many stories later, Marele remains a valuable champion of my work. One day, I hope I get the chance to officially thank her in the acknowledgements section of a novel. Until then, this will have to do. — Polly Jude, YA writer and northerly critic. Residential Mentorship 2014, 2017 and 2019 Marele played a pivotal role in the early days of my writing life. We met in 2004 at the Residential Mentorship. I had applied with the beginnings of a memoir and no formal writing experience. I still remember our conversations: a mix of inquiry, considered feedback and encouragement. We four participants were sometimes set free into the garden with exercises to both expand and fine-tune our awareness. Marele’s guidance informed the way I could read as a writer. Her quiet presence at the table as we offered critiques of each other’s work provided a foundation for joining a writers’ circle. With commitment to the craft there was every reason to embrace my future as a writer. Having Marele as mentor made for a transformative residency. I have since published a memoir, a novel and a companion volume of poetry, and have a second novel in the wings. — Helen Burns, author of Andal’s Garland (Odyssey Books, 2021). Residential Mentorship 2004. Marele. Thank you for your support and guidance during the 2015 residency. Your words of encouragement, enthusiasm for my writing, and gently delivered feedback all helped me along the road to publication. Thank you too for the bonus advice along that road (lending an ear as I processed/ melted down over my last-minute novel title change was particularly appreciated) and your advice post-publication on navigating festivals, second book syndrome, post-publication blues, and all the other challenging aspects of a writing life. Myself and many other mentees have been in the most capable hands over the last twenty years. Wishing you well-deserved retirement from the program. — Jarrah Dundler, author of Hey Brother (Allen & Unwin, 2018). Residential Mentorship 2015.

Image: Marele Day with Residential Mentorship writers in 2021.