The HWA is pleased to announce the winner of the Mentor of the Year Award: Dave Jeffery.

The HWA’s Mentor Program is available to all members of the organization. This popular program pairs newer writers with established professionals for an intensive four-month-long partnership. For new writers, the Program offers mentees a personal, one-on-one experience with a seasoned writer, tailor-made to help them grow in their writing and better market their work. For experienced writers, it is an opportunity to pay forward the assistance and encouragement other writers gave them when they were starting out. In addition, there is the added benefit of growing as a writer oneself through the act of teaching others. In short, the Program benefits all who participate, regardless of their role.
Established in 2014, the Mentor of the Year Award recognizes one mentor in the Program who has done an outstanding job of helping new writers. The award is chosen by the current manager of the Program.
Congratulations to Dave!
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Dave Jeffery epitomizes what a mentor should be. He is dedicated to helping other writers improve their craft and always eager to participate in the Program each semester. The writers he’s worked with have nothing but great things to say about him, as evidenced by this quote from one of his recent mentees:
“Dave deserves praise and was everything one could ask for as a mentor. He was kind, he offered his expertise in a way that I could apply to my work, he made himself readily available, and he tailored his feedback and suggestions to my aspirations as a writer. In short, Dave was an excellent ambassador for the HWA and writers in general.”
It’s been a pleasure for me to work with Dave these past several years, and I would like to point out that he also helps writers in other ways, as he is the co-chair of the HWA’s Wellness Committee. Without members like Dave, the Mentor Program would not exist. – JG Faherty, HWA Mentorship Program Manager
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Dave Jeffery is the author of 18 novels, two collections, and numerous short stories. His Necropolis Rising series and yeti adventure Frostbite have both featured on the Amazon #1 bestseller list. His YA work features the critically acclaimed Beatrice Beecham supernatural mystery and A Quiet Apocalypse series. His screenwriting credits include award-winning short films ASCENSION and DERELICT.
Dave is a former registered mental health professional who specialized in the field of mental health nursing and risk management. His novel Finding Jericho is based on his experiences working with service users who have experienced stigma and social exclusion due to their mental illness. Dave is a member of the Society of Authors and British Fantasy Society, and is both a mentor and the co-chair of the Wellness Committee for the HWA. An avid reader and book reviewer, he resides in Worcestershire, UK.