Hear from the writers in the program:

Kaushkey (2025)

I went into this creative writing program battling serious imposter syndrome. I loved writing, but every time I tried to put something on paper, I’d second-guess myself. I didn’t feel like a “real” writer. The program changed that. What helped the most was the line-by-line feedback I received from my editor. It wasn’t about tearing my work apart, it was about showing me what was already working and where I needed to fine-tune. That gave me such a boost of confidence in my own skills and talent. I realized I wasn’t completely off-track; I just needed guidance and structure in putting my thoughts down on paper. In just four sessions, I learned how to really think like a writer, how to step into a character’s shoes, build layered personalities, and trust my instincts. I also finally figured out how to get what was in my head onto the page in the clearest, strongest way.

This program gave me more than writing tools — it gave me confidence. I left feeling excited to keep going, to keep improving, and most of all, to actually share my work with others. Everything about this felt like a tailor-made fit — the program began with me discussing my strengths and weaknesses and during the course of the program I was given a lot of tools as well as food for thoughts to improve my weak spots while fine-tuning my strengths. Overall, this program felt like a group study where I laughed, cried, discussed the hard ones, but at the end always left with pages upon pages of notes. So if you’re looking for a program that gives you that feeling of sitting right next to someone who is trained in the craft of writing (not just being a writer themselves)  and getting undivided attention as you refine your creative writing skills, you should definitely enrol for this one!

Snehal (2025)

It’s taken me a while to write about this programme, to effectively review it. Not because I didn’t want to, because I did not know where to begin. As is with experiences that end up changing your life or impacting it in some meaningful way, this one has been especially beautiful. It has for me been a turning point in my writing career, if I may call it that. I have always written  poetry and have published a couple of books too. However, writing prose was a personal passion, until I attended this programme. At the time of considering the programme I had started writing some short notes about my grandmother and my childhood in Bombay. Felt that I had something to work with and shared this with the team at The Bombay Review. The application process was straightforward and I was accepted into it. I was also granted a scholarship and was very excited to begin. As we started working on the project, I wrote fresh material based on my mentor’s feedback. It was clear from the get-go, that these vignettes would be a book, The mentor was brilliant especially because I think he understood what I wanted to say through my memoir, ntimate details of my relationship with my grandmother and also my growing up days. Pointing me in the right direction in terms of what needed to be changed, gave me a lot of insight into the craft of creative non-fiction writing – setting, persona, story, reflection etc.

What I enjoyed most about this program was that my writing was given a lot of attention. It was a line-by-line review of my work which can be terrifying but it surprisingly was just the opposite! It was fulfilling.The mentor read every sentence and gave me feedback on almost every little thing. Sure, it was a little intense but it was amazing because it gave me a renewed confidence in my writing. During the course of the programme I completed writing the memoir and soon after, I sent out the manuscript to a few publishers and am thrilled to share that it is being published in the autumn of 2025 by Texas based publisher. Yay!

While we worked non fiction, it was a pleasant surprise to be guided in short fiction too, a genre I thought was beyond me. I have taken two follow up programs in short fiction with them now!

Nandita (2025)

If one wants to pick up the skill of writing, then there is a lot of knowledge freely available out there. You do that, learn to write, and then you wonder if it’s any good? Good or bad? How good? How bad? What exactly is working, what is not? This is the point where a 1:1 mentorship becomes inevitable. Consider the following wishes I expressed in my application for this program. I bet you’d have a few of these in your list too. Happy to report that I have been able to check most of them!

• I am a fan of packing lot of drama in fewer words. And I want to write in this style.
• I want to write short stories that have one or more of these three elements – drama, thrill and/or humor. I enjoy it a lot. I want to serve the same, and well.
• I want to hit the (personal) milestone of engaging the audience well.
• I would rather leave a few beautiful stories, than none, on the way to a novel even if I don’t make it there.
• And yes, I do want to have fun writing especially when the throughput time is short(er). – which I did! So much. It’s a great thrill.
• What would you call that one person at the party who has the whackiest, most bizzare, fun stories? I want to be that with the written word.

And I checked with my mentor on these – he responded -XXX – on these. The best part is that the confidence of pulling all this comes from a very simple and effective exercise that’s done for every story, in every session – Reviewing every word, every sentence. By doing this for every line, in every story- you build the muscle memory to see the scope of improvement and even know how to solve it. At the end of it, I can now look at my story and know what’s good and what needs fixing. I also know how to ask the right questions. I wanted a mental model that worked for me. That’s a win for me. As a side benefit, I surprised myself with some of my stories when the mentor pushed me out of my comfort zone. In a nutshell, it’s a 1:1 program. You can’t hide. Instead, show up, be out, and ridiculous. The rest of the learning just flows from there. For that the course and my mentor gets full credit.

Sarah (2024)
As someone who often gets overlooked in a crowd, the mentorship program was a rare gem for me. Because, I have always thrived when mentoring is individualised. In a one-to-one setting, it is not just the mentee that gains new perspectives, but the mentor too has a chance to perceive closely. This was the reason why I didn’t just reflect on my weaker areas, but also realised strengths I never knew I had. Imagine writing a story, and getting feedback on it for 5 sessions. Line by line. It doesn’t get any better. I cannot recommend The Bombay Review’s mentorship program enough. If you’re considering it, please apply now!  Thank you, for your memorable mentoring!

Avni (2024)
As a new writer, I lacked confidence and clarity in my own writing. I was looking for a program where I could work one on one, understand where I stand, and improve my craft. The Mentor was patient, supportive and funny. I was able to work on 3 different stories during the program and learnt so much. It gave me what I was looking for. We spent hours discussing a paragraph or a page or simply about the craft. During our one on one calls, we worked line by line, and it helped me understand what worked well or what could have been better. My mentor was a sounding board to bounce ideas off of and it helped me keep up with my momentum. At the start of the program, while I had ideas and I knew what I wanted to say, I lacked the tools to craft a good story. One big understanding that I had during this engagement was that you construct a story, it’s a lot like putting a collage together and moving various pieces until you have an image that represents what you want to say.  This program was a great starting point for my writing career and it feels like I have found a lifelong writing community. I’d recommend it for any writer! 

Aryan (2024)
“The Bombay Review Writing Mentorship course was brilliant. Over 4 sessions, I was able to see a clear difference in the way I tackle stories and writing. I was afraid that a course like this would impose the mentor’s style of writing onto my own practice. Instead I was happy to discover that the focus was to deepen and develop my own voice and practice. In the first session, I was taught how to shape stories at a nascent stage. I was shown ways to be more creative with structures and sentences. Starting a story has always been troublesome, and my mentor helped ease that anxiety. Once I had a story down, it was very helpful to have my mentor explain the holes in my writing and give me very grounded advice on how to proceed, improve and practice on my own. Every suggestion made by the mentor was done with the intent of improving my story, or understanding it better. If I said no to a suggestion, it helped me have a stronger vision for my story, and if I said yes, it improved the story on its own. Every lesson was extremely engaging, and I’d look forward to the next. Having an experienced pair of eyes looking over my work and progress was very, very constructive. I have a far better understanding of the landscape of writing, my own capabilities, and the roadmap for my future thanks to my mentor and my course.”