Former SPC Prof Makes Award Shortlists
Trevor Herriot taught at St. Peter's College for the first two years of our Writing Diploma (2008 and 2009).
"St. Peter's writing program gives students the tools and guidance they need in a setting with enough history, solitude, and natural beauty to bring the best out in any writer. Writers of all levels and genres and from all over North America have been coming to St. Peter's for years to practice their craft. The College's writing diploma advances that tradition, offering students excellent writing courses taught by professional, published writers."
--Trevor Herriot, nationally renowned author and environmentalist
Please read on about Trevor Herriot's Award nominations:
A former SPC professor is flying high after finding out his latest book has been thrust into the national spotlight.
Trevor Herriot's Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grasslands Birds, was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literacy Award and for the Writer's Trust Award.
"I'm really feeling blessed," said Herriot. "Being a writer, there are a lot of ups and downs for your ego and it's important to find a way to go through it without having your head turned either way."
He received news about the nomination for the Governor General's award this week from his editor.
"I said, 'No, it can't be.' To be nominated for both these awards a couple of weeks apart I was shocked," said Herriot, about receiving his second national nomination. "When the phone call came and I saw that it was a '416' number, my heart did a little leap."
This is Herriot's third book and it's not the first time one of his books has received such attention.
"I've really been lucky," he said.
His first book was nominated for the Writer's Trust Award and the Governor General's Literacy Award -- and won the Writer's Trust Award. His second book also received a nomination for the Writer's Trust Award.
"Both of those first two books were nominated for Saskatchewan Book Awards and other awards too," said Herriot.
He stressed that writers don't go into the business of writing books simply for the awards.
"You don't want to think about writing as a competition. If you're competing against anyone, it's with yourself," said Herriot.
Herriot wrote his book on grasslands birds because he wants to make Prairie people more aware of the environment and the need to do something to preserve and protect what we have now.
"We're part of nature ourselves," he said. "If we're harming the natural world, ultimately we're harming ourselves."
Article courtesy of the Regina Leader-Post
