Trevor Day

Originally a marine biologist, I continue to write about the marine world while specialising in academic writing and learning development at university level. I was Director of Consultant Fellows for the Royal Literary Fund, UK (2013–21) leading the professional development of authors working with about 60 universities (https://rlfconsultants.com/consultants). I have worked as a writing consultant for many UK and overseas universities.

My love of language and learning shines through, I hope, in all my teaching and writing. My book, Success in Academic Writing (Bloomsbury), now in its third edition, offers many practical tips and strategies to help and inspire students to write powerfully and productively. This is not just for academic purposes but to apply throughout their lives.

As for my books aimed at demystifying the natural world, those about sharks, dolphins, whales, coral reefs and volcanoes are particularly popular. As a writer, I believe that scholarly knowledge needs to go hand in hand with direct experience of the natural world. With that in mind, I've travelled widely and scuba dived in many places - Australia, South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, the Red Sea, the Maldives, and the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas.

I am passionate about revealing how the health of the oceans is vital to our lives, and this was an underlying theme in my book Sardine (Reaktion). A big fan of sharks, I'm sickened by the millions that are killed each year to supply the shark-fin trade. I've dived with several so-called 'man-eating' species, finding them fascinating rather than life-threatening. Of course, there is the odd very rare exception. When diving alongside a shoal of sardines off South Africa, eight bronze whaler sharks were more interested in us than the sardines. They chased us out of the water! Perhaps they thought we were muscling in on their territory?

For more information about Trevor Day and his writing go to https://reading-writing-results.com/