Nicholas Herring, an Honours English Literature graduate (BA ’09) from St. Jerome’s University, was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2026 Giller Prize for his second novel, Your Breath in Charcoal on Monday, October 5, 2026.
Published by Goose Lane Editions, Your Breath in Charcoal tells the story of Knickle, a young Islander with no friends, direction, or purpose in his life. When he drives to northern New Brunswick to pick up an acquaintance’s brother from a mental health hospital, the pair make a sudden decision to travel further west to try to find a life amidst the chaos of Upper Canada. In the big city of Tah-ron-ah for the first time, Knickle discovers love, hope, and profound loss.
The jury citation calls it “An uproarious, undeniably Maritime tale, Your Breath in Charcoal recounts the story of Knickle: an East Coast “everyman” on a road trip from Prince Edward Island ‘down the road’ to “Tah-ron-ah.” “Swimming in the wonder and potential of life, of bruises and injuries, but also of quiet resilience,” Your Breath in Charcoal is a deeply philosophical narrative filled with pop culture references, literary allusions, and mordant, quotable witticisms. With Knickle’s distinctive voice at its centre, Your Breath in Charcoal is a character study of a young man learning how to live his life, facing the complexities of the modern world in a riotously funny working-class odyssey filled with love, loss, and profound hope."
During his time at St. Jerome’s, Nicholas was the winner of a Betty G. Headley essay prize. After his BA, he went on to complete an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Toronto. His debut novel, Some Hellish, won the prestigious Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Critics described it as “heart-wrenchingly beautiful,” “irreverent, screwball, and inspired,” and “a winding, raucous ride.” His writing has also appeared in The Puritan and The Fiddlehead. He lives in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island, where he works as a fisherman and a carpenter.
The Giller Prize is one of Canada’s leading literary prizes for fiction, and awards $100,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel, graphic novel, or short story collection published in English, and $10,000 to each of the finalists. The award is named in honour of late literary journalist, Doris Giller.
The St. Jerome’s University Reading Series will be hosting a reading with Nicholas on Thursday, November 19, 2026 at 4:30p.m. in SJ2 1004 (the Vanstone Lecture Hall) in the Academic Centre. Details can be found here.
Additionally, The New Quarterly, the local literary magazine whose offices are housed at St. Jerome’s, will be partnering with Spirit Ink to host Tara Gereaux, author of the Giller prize shortlisted novel Wild People Quiet in conversation with Amanda St. Marie at United College. Details can be found here.
