An award-winning author from Vancouver who writes for both children and teens, toured the Fraser Valley recently to speak with kids about the process of writing and publishing.
Gabrielle Prendergast has been an author for 20 years, and published her first book, Wicket Season in 2012.
On the Fraser Valley school and library tour, Prendergast made a stop at West Langley Elementary School to share her own story of becoming a published author.
“I had a great time. Children’s lives are very much oriented around books. There’s books at school, they have math books, English books, history books. They are encouraged to read novels. And most of them have no idea how books are made.”
Prendergast said students often learn about how different things are made, but rarely learn about how books are made.
“They don’t know who authors are, what they look like, or what they do.”
By the end of her presentation, Prendergast said children are more engaged interested in books.
“They have a whole new appreciation of books. When kids learn about the personalities behind the books that are always in front of their faces, it increases their interest in them. I want kids to read. All authors want kids to read.”
Another point that Prendergast shared with students was that it’s possible for them to become an author.
“I base it on this idea that rather than ‘follow your passion,’ which is one thing people say or ‘get a sensible job,’ which is what other people say, is that you do something in the middle. Do something that you’re good at that doesn’t make you sad. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what you’re good at, but the kids always ask me why I became an author and that’s always my answer.”
Prendergast grew up in Saskatchewan and graduated from UBC’s creative writing program.
Her most recent books include Pandas on the Eastside and the BC Book Prize winner, Zero Repeat Forever.