MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentorship Recipient:
Davey

Mentor Commentary:
​Nardine Taleb

On the Revision Process for "Davey"

by ​​Mark Gilson

I was tremendously excited to learn of my mentorship and publication in GSR! For years I have assaulted short fiction from all angles but without success. Family members, former friends and knowledgeable strangers have learned over time to avoid my requests for review and revision. Yet finally, at long last, I am rewarded with a knowledgeable mentor who can assist me on a path towards fiction that others might actually read and enjoy. I secretly googled my mentor and whispered conspiratorially to my wife, ‘She speaks Arabic!’

During our Zoom meeting we addressed many misplaced pronouns and other errors. But mostly what she provided, and what I needed, was enthusiastic encouragement. She is a brilliant and accomplished person and editor. Where else in the world but Cleveland and GSR would I find someone like her to spend time analyzing and improving my work?

Mark Gilson is a former nursery owner, landscape worker and CPA, Mark is currently employed as a part-time accountant in Mentor, Ohio. Recent gigs since closing the family nursery in 2018 include a stint with the laundry and trash team during an outage at Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Census Enumerator, bookkeeper at Lake County Historical Society and also at a Fiberglass Manufacturing shop in Euclid. Finally, at age seventy, Mark hopes he has arrived at his ‘forever job’, one which provides off-time for creative writing. Over the years Mark held posts on the board for Ohio Invasive Plants Council and also Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association.  He was president of Nursery Growers of Lake County Ohio, produced their quarterly newsletter for ten years, and co-founded Lake County Ag Water Coalition. For several years Mark sat on the community advisory board at Ideastream. He was active for many years with legislative advocacy for local Latino populations and nursery workers in particular. He has published and presented on nursery matters, local history, immigration reform and horticulture. One of his goals remains to reach out to new people and new ideas. His most engaging activity these days is doing whatever his wife of fifty years tells him to do. ​