Launched by the Saskatchewan Foundation For the Arts (SFFA) 2021, the Glengarry Book Award Prize was created to support and foster Saskatchewan’s literary culture. The Glengarry Book Award Prize is an annual award for the first edition of an English language novel or book of short fiction. This award is the vision of donor and book lover Claire Kramer, a founding trustee of the SFFA.
The annual $20,000 (CAD) prize celebrates authors with Saskatchewan roots. In its fourth year, the SFFA is proud to announce Trevor Herriot as this year’s recipient of the province’s largest literary prize.
Shortlisted novels, Marina Endicott’s The Observer, was noted for its beautiful writing, eloquent prose and examination of stress adjacent trauma. Dave Margoshe’s A Simple Carpenter, was noted for the interweaving of a biblical fable, magic realism and political intrigue through the wanderings of the main character.
Trevor Herriot
The Glengarry Book Award
Trevor Herriot is a naturalist, grassland conservationist, and the author of several award-winning books, including Grass, Sky, Song and the national bestseller River in a Dry Land, both of which were short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction. Towards a Prairie Atonement, published in October 2016, took two Saskatchewan Book Awards. His most recent book, a novel, The Economy of Sparrows, was released in 2023. He is a recipient of the Kloppenberg Award for Literary Merit and the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. His essays and articles have appeared in The Globe & Mail, The Narwhal, Brick, Border Crossings, Canadian Geographic, and several anthologies. For more than twenty years he has been the voice of Birdline on CBC Radio Saskatchewan’s Blue Sky noon show. He and his wife, Karen, live in Regina, and spend much of their time on a piece of Aspen Parkland prairie east of the city.
“It is an overwhelming thing to receive the Glengarry Award and feel the flood of gratitude that comes with it. I want to first thank my publisher Thistledown, and Elizabeth Phillips especially, for believing in the book and then wisely connecting me with such a fine editor in Fred Stenson. Second, I have to thank the Saskatchewan Writers Guild for its programs including the writing retreats I love to attend when working on a book. I am grateful as well to the Saskatchewan Arts Board for a grant I received while I did some critical work on the novel. Most important, I cannot say enough to thank Claire Kramer for establishing this prize and for being someone who believes Saskatchewan voices deserve this kind of support, attention, and encouragement. Your love and support for books and the literary arts in Saskatchewan will have a lasting impact on this province and how we tell our stories to the wider world.”
*Featured Artist