Articles
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Motivation for playwrights, comedy for readers
A debate about pies, an argument about alien abductions, adolescent chess players, and a zombie asking to be remembered: all of these can be found in The Long & Short of It: A selection of short plays written by the Prairie Theatre Exchange Playwrights Unit, a new collection of “Short Shots” written by the Prairie Theatre Exchange Playwrights Unit and edited by Brian Drader, the executive director of the Manitoba Association of Playwrights. -
PoetryGiving voice to Russia’s last tsarina
Winnipeg poet Lori Cayer’s latest book focuses on an unlikely subject: the last tsarina of Russia, Alexandra. Mrs Romanov reads like a memoir in verse, from Alix’s marriage to the future tsar, Nicholas, to the birth of her children and her relationship with Rasputin, to the time her world came crashing down. -
Young Adult/ChildrenMeeting challenges to unity with respect
Karen Spafford-Fitz has loved books and reading all of her life and she has been writing since she was five years old. Unity Club, her fifth book, is written for middle-grade readers who are 10 to 14 years old. -
FictionBuilding a novel through “unguarded conversation”
Eavesdropping. Polite society frowns upon it. Parents raise their kids to not listen in on other people’s conversations. What if a researcher challenged these accepted norms and used the power of eavesdropping in a project to collect these bits of other people’s lives to generate new data on public opinion? -
FictionDeath and rebirth on the shores of Lake Winnipeg
An ex-cop with a troubled past. A close-knit lakeside community with close-guarded secrets. The suspicious death of a young woman. These are all the makings of a good noir story, but in W. D. Valgardson’s hands, they combine to become a mythic blend of Icelandic history in Canada and a story of death and rebirth. -
FictionTriumph and turmoil in a small-town family tale
“Even as a child, I was attracted to books with characters in turmoil,” author Fran Kimmel says. Now her own fiction involves protagonists with tumultuous lives. -
FeaturesVisions of accountability, healing through poetry
In March 2016, Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted of choking and sexual assault charges. Throughout the trial, Halifax-based poet Sue Goyette had been posting on Facebook, expressing her outrage, trying to support her friends. -
FeaturesRooster Town emerges from the shadows
With the publication of Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901–1961, authors Evelyn Peters, Matthew Stock, and Adrian Werner have produced the most comprehensive account to date of the marginal Métis community that occupied the bush terrain of southwest Winnipeg from 1901 to 1961. -
Young Adult/ChildrenKnow your rights, and then ask questions
The law is not easy for adults to navigate, let alone for children and teens. However, young people need to be aware of their legal rights. -
FeaturesNo easy choice in the face of unforgivable crimes
Miriam Toews’s latest novel, Women Talking, packs a wallop. Based on a true incident, deeply felt and timely, here Toews probes topics ranging from migration to redemption.
