A Saskatchewan author is touring the province promoting homegrown and largely unknown stories.
Regina's Deana Driver made a stop in Estevan last week as part of her fall tour promoting the importance of stories to Saskatchewan students. The tour started in Weyburn on Sept. 18, and the following day, she made stops at Pleasantdale, St. Mary's, Westview and Sacred Heart/Sacré Coeur Schools, before appearing at the Estevan Public Library and the Estevan Comprehensive School last Friday.
The journalist, author and book publisher is travelling around the province, encouraging students to share stories and develop a love of the written word.
"It has been great. It has been, really, a nice welcome," said Driver of the hospitality she encountered in the Energy City. "The students have been so interested in the Prairie stories, and the Saskatchewan authors, Saskatchewan publishers and Saskatchewan books. Lots of them have indicated an interest in reading and writing, which is really nice."
Driver and her husband Al, a long-time editor with the Regina Leader-Post, now have their own publishing company, DriverWorks Ink, which prints real-life stories from the Prairies as well as fiction. She received a grant from the Creative Industries fund, which has ensured the fall tour would go ahead and she would be able to market their work while speaking with students.
"(I want to) encourage them to read and read all sorts of materials to find something they enjoy reading and keep learning from it and keep growing as a person," added Driver. "I encourage people who are interested in writing to keep writing, to keep working at it, to keep honing your skills. That's what we, as journalists and as authors do. We try to improve our own writing every single time we write something."
She reminds students and writers everywhere they shouldn't expect to be perfect the first time. Nobody ever is, so she wants burgeoning writers to seek help and feedback from professionals.
"I started writing books by accident," said Driver of how she wrote her first book, based on the first 25 years of the Weyburn Inland Terminal.
"It was a really great way for me to get involved in the book publishing industry because somebody paid me to create their book," she said.
She wasn't wholly familiar with the history of the terminal or the impact it had on grain farmers across Canada, a legacy still felt by farmers today.
"As with all the stories, the more I found out about it, the more interesting it was and the more pieces needed to be shared with others. These people changed the way every Canadian farmer was paid for their grain. I don't know how many people in Saskatchewan know that. I certainly didn't know that."
As she began researching and conducting interviews for the book, she realized all the background struggles for the first farmer-owned-and-operated terminal in the country, noting that operation of the terminal nearly collapsed on a number of occasions.
Last weekend the Drivers set up their display of published works at the trade show in Carlyle, the Homespun Craft Show and Sale. They will be back in Estevan this weekend to set up for the annual Estevan Business Expo Showcase.
The tour will continue until the start of December, with Driver visiting schools, libraries and trade shows each weekend, and it will also send them into Manitoba and Alberta.
She said the tour is a great way to showcase the Saskatchewan stories written by Prairie authors who many in the province may not know about.
"We put the books out there because we believe in the stories, and we believe it's important to share those stories of unsung heroes and fascinating Prairie people."
