Mitchell Toews's Blog

Mitchellaneous Redux

For years, I’ve kept a blog at Mitchellaneous.com. Now, with a new site — mitchtoewsauthor.com — it’s time to bring everything under one roof.

Not a diaspora, not a forced march — just a subtle shift.

The new site provides me with a single platform to share my work and, in 2026, to host my debut novel and any subsequent projects. Everything is here: links to buy books or read published stories, a calendar of events, reviews, and more.

You’ll still find me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and X, as usual.

Thanks for reading. I’ll keep posting, and I hope you’ll keep stopping by. As before, my big mouth snookery pairs well with caffeine and is best taken with a grain of salt.

Quiet writing in a noisy era

REVIEW—Linda Rogers Van Krugel

PINCHING ZWIEBACK, Made-up stories from the Darp, Mitchell Toews, At Bay Press, 2023, paper, pp 253 Review by Linda Rogers Van Krugel, Victoria, BC

On child birthdays we toss the kids in the air, make wishes and offer a “pinch to grow an inch.” Pinching Zwieback is a gathering of pinches as a young man, dough in the hands of powerful albeit diminished women that rises in the oven of cultural expectation to a better understanding of his place in the world beyond the kitchen of his creation.

That is the substance of Pinching Zwieback, rhymes with Steinbach, the town of Toews’ awakening. The linked stories in this premier collection from a senior writer describe the apostate Christian community he is growing into and out of now that the skin he was born in no longer fits. This was always true for the narrators born as outsiders in an outsider religion.

The earliest stories in the Bible tell us of exile and that is the status of boys born into an immigrant community, two degrees of separation from their historical selves. For this writer and others, new flesh pyjamas are neologisms that chafe their doctrines of faith. Belonging, at once the impetus for diaspora is the difficulty when it is achieved.

The Steinbach cohort learn in increments and their baby steps are measured in short stories, especially those written when expectation has been replaced by wisdom. Mitch Toews is a grandfather, his voice sifted through grizzle, the grey beard that bears witness to a lifetime of experience, and his coming-of-age collection is a double entendre, panis angelicus and little devils growing into the bodies of angels who challenge the status quo.

His stories, small anxieties, grow out of fear, children afraid of the dark, longing for the light. The transforming narrator has grown up through the three stages of man to a realisation that every effort to rise into a paradigm is the stuff of comedy because there is no perfect fit. Skin is woven by DNA and the declared DNA of Mennonite boys is kindness, pacifism, precepts often lost when religion becomes political, something, we suspect, Toews is noticing in the world his boys long to be part of, but on their own terms.

Pacifism, a precept of Mennonites often lost in the noise of struggling to fit outsiderhood, rises to assert itself in critical moments. This book is a double bun, doughy anecdotes from a spirited childhood coupled with the realisation that manhood is a more complex goal than just being strong, especially when strength translates into bullying, especially of women, the archetypal bakers of the author’s imagination.

One such moment arrives in the story where two friends are expected to fight because one commits an indiscretion by revealing a secret of vulnerability. The boys are expected to duke it out, neither of them comfortable with that resolution. A deeper language speaks in the half-hearted skirmish where blood knowledge informs them that friendship is deeper than difference and indiscretion is often more apocryphal storytelling than moral betrayal.

In “Fall From Grace,” a beautiful story of risk, we learn once again that moral challenges require more courage than mindless forages into physical danger, a temptation that leaves too many young men in graves and wheelchairs, and even more silenced young women subject to the violence menacingly referenced in the drowned silence of “Breezy.”

“Sunday school principles were discarded when the blood ran hot.” In the Steinbach world, a sensitive boy needed armour, regalia with spikes to deflect the shibboleths that kept him static within the social order, thou shalt nots pouring like molten proverb from the mouths of prophets and schoolteachers.

Mennonites were/are a hierarchy, men on top, some pigs better than others in the language of George Orwell. And sows are barely pigs, Adam’s rib, let us guess a penis, dedicated to stirring the pot, with the secret provision for rebellion when the kettle boils over.

In the story “The Grittiness of Mango Chiffon,” Matt describes his mother’s feminist rage against an elitist bully of a schoolteacher who would have her teenaged daughter expelled for wearing pants to stay warm in winter. “For this she used her secret weapon—a large English vocabulary. A second lexical ordnance to complement her mastery of Low German.” It is a small rebellion, albeit over the phone not person to person, but it is women talking, the beginning of revolution against the norms that constrain.

It is control of language that determines cultural survival. That is what so many colonial societies are learning as they search for elders and text to explain themselves. Toews’ struggle between the desire to know himself and find himself is the key to comedy and pathos in his quest for definition. Perhaps this is an easier task for the women who stick to making bread and remember the recipes.

Making bread is women’s work in patriarchal society and it takes a voyeur like Toews to notice strength in forearms that pinch and shape dough and the character of children with muscle memory.

We come out of these stories with sympathy for both sides, but, in the end, bread wins and by the time the boys grow up, the women are in positions of power their grandmothers never dreamed of.

The arc of every story in this collection is a micro-battle against expectation, the status quo, as the three main recurrent boy/man characters—Matt, Lenny, and Diedrich—struggle to understand their legacy, the being of their Mennonite heritage, in the context of a language they barely understand (and kindly provide a glossary) and a hierarchy that makes them less, so that in some senses they are women, or are at least aware of the life sentences handed down at birth.

Just as the three male protagonists are uncomfortable with their ancestral language and the inference that it reduces their status in a patriarchal culture, the reader experiences dis/gravitas as Low German is sprinkled like itching powder in the text. Pain is the father of humour and humour is relief.

I remember being invited to dinner at a forest haven, populated by privileged tourists, all of whom spoke High German, in the BC Interior. Our host, of Mennonite extraction, warned us not to let on that he understood the language. “The minute I respond in my dialect, they will treat us badly,” he said. I had to wonder what we were doing there, reliving pain even a diaspora could not cure.

Only writing can do that, my friend is discovering.

“…he still felt the old resentment, as stinging as tears, being in this place and reliving the old thoughts again.” So what is Toews doing here, outing himself by juggling unfamiliar speech, the language of his ancestors? Just as it is for the mothers and guardian aunts who care for Matt, Lenny, and Diedrich, everything depends on the energy of conviction. The outrider needs to signal danger otherwise we all run off the cliff into the valley of discrimination.

Baseball is the metaphor in this coming of great age book. As we sit back and watch the game: hits, runs, errors, we understand both rules and surprises, and girls can play too. In “The Narrowing” a story about facing fear, Matt, now a grandfather, urges his grandson Tim to confront the knife’s edge of living dangerously, playing chicken with a train. This is a man playing a boy’s game and, although the boy wins by surviving, the grandfather is left to confront his hubris and the greater wisdom of his daughter.

In the final story “In the Dim Light Beyond the Fence,” Matt’s death experience lovingly recalled in the context of baseball, the Mennonite game of recognition is played out: “…the past shunnings, social stigmatization. Institutional misogyny. All of it, the good and the bad. Dad was so proud of the pacifism, though that was tainted in some ways, but so what. They tried.” Life is reaching for the light, which never falters even as the human characters flicker and fade.

As these stories rise in Toews’ proverbial oven they grow away from the fire of creation, the same fire that has tempted and driven notable female voices from the Mennonite community. This time it is men talking. Both sides now.

Pinching Zwieback Compendium

https://atbaypress.com/books/detail/pinching-zwieback

For fun, I fed every review and comment about my collection of short stories, Pinching Zwieback (At Bay Press, 2023) into the free ChatGPT kitchen and asked ol’ Chatty Cathy to make me an omelette. Here’s what was served:

Pinching Zwieback – Consolidated Critical Reception OverviewGeneral ReceptionPinching Zwieback has been widely praised for its authentic depiction of Prairie Mennonite life, skillfully blending humor, moral reflection, and cultural specificity.Reviewers note that while stories often begin with playful or whimsical setups, they carry significant emotional, moral, or physical stakes, as seen in Swimming in the Bazavluk (near-drowning) and Fall From Grace.Toews’ prose is consistently highlighted for its precision, clarity, and warmth, making the collection accessible while deeply engaging with culture, heritage, and interpersonal dynamics.The collection has received repeated coverage from sources including the Winnipeg Free Press, McNally Robinson, Anabaptist World, Literary Heist, and Blank Spaces Magazine, as well as multiple interviews and discussions with the author, demonstrating broad literary and cultural recognition.Key Themes Highlighted by ReviewersComing-of-Age and Moral GrowthStories frequently focus on adolescents navigating ethical dilemmas, social pressures, and family dynamics.Humor and adventure are balanced with serious lessons about resilience, responsibility, and morality.Cultural Heritage and Mennonite IdentityThe collection emphasizes Mennonite traditions, work ethic, and community norms.Historical and ancestral connections, e.g., settings in Ukraine or Russia (Swimming in the Bazavluk), link characters to generational memory.Commentary by Armin Wiebe and others notes Toews’ ability to explore aspects of Mennonite life that other writers have largely avoided: class, racism, small-town hypocrisy, and intergenerational conflict.Humor and Emotional RangeStories oscillate between the hilarious and the tragic, reflecting real-life complexity.Humor illuminates character insight and cultural observation rather than serving purely as comic relief.Community, Belonging, and IndividualityStories examine social pressures, conformity, and dissent, as well as family and community relationships.Zilla Jones emphasizes that although the stories are ostensibly Mennonite, themes of belonging vs. alienation and individual vs. family are universal.Ralph Friesen and Leslie Wakeman note Toews’ attention to marginalized voices and underdogs, highlighting emotional stakes alongside comedic elements.Generational and Interconnected StorytellingMultiple reviewers, including Rachael Friesen, highlight the linked generational narratives, following characters across decades and locations, from 19th-century Russia to contemporary Manitoba and British Columbia.Armin Wiebe observes that recurring family threads (e.g., the Zehen family and a family bakery) allow stories to explore love, rivalry, moral tests, and both physical and emotional peril.Universality and Canadian IdentityAlanna Rusnak describes the stories as “quintessentially Canadian,” moving through daily experiences, with heart-wrenching and evocative moments.Linda Rogers emphasizes Toews’ exploration of outsider identity and personal transformation, connecting the Prairie Mennonite context to broader human experience.Notable Reviewer Highlights and QuotesArmin Wiebe: “Mitchell Toews’ stories range from Tom Sawyer-like tales of boyhood squabbles to the heartbreak of family dysfunction… From 1874 Russia to 21st-century Manitoba and British Columbia, Mitchell Toews’ linked stories present a boisterous and poignant family saga unlike any other in Mennonite literature.”Donna Besel: “Mitch’s debut collection pays homage to Mennonite language, food, history, and culture… but he does not shy away from sharp insights into the limitations of a closed and controlled way of life.”Ralph Friesen: “Mitch Toews speaks from the margins of small-town society, claiming a space for the underdog and the undervalued… His rare talent touches your heart and is funny, too.”Linda Rogers Van Krugel: “The linked stories describe the apostate Christian community he is growing into and out of… narrators born as outsiders in an outsider religion.”Zilla Jones: “Mitchell Toews’ stories ask universal questions about belonging, conforming, and dissenting… ostensibly Mennonite, but the themes… are universal.”Alanna Rusnak: “Moves like a tide through visceral daily experiences—quintessentially Canadian, some heart-wrenching, each powerfully evocative.”Leslie Wakeman: “His stories allow us to hold space for challenging our notions on life.”Rachael Friesen: “…snapshots from each character and how the stories flow from one generation to the next were fantastic.”Overall Critical Consensus

Strengths

Exceptional authenticity and cultural fidelity, capturing Prairie Mennonite life across multiple generations and geographies.Skillful blending of humor, moral reflection, and narrative tension, often with life-or-death stakes.Character-driven stories that resonate emotionally while reflecting ethical and social dilemmas.Universality: While rooted in Mennonite experience, stories explore human themes of belonging, identity, and resilience.

Limitations / Caveats

Stories sometimes assume some cultural or regional knowledge, but universal themes and narrative clarity make them broadly accessible.Summary

Pinching Zwieback is celebrated as a groundbreaking and multifaceted collection in contemporary Mennonite and Canadian literature. The stories balance playfulness, peril, humor, and moral insight, while creating a linked generational tapestry from 19th-century Russia to present-day Canadian Prairies. Critical and public reception highlights Toews’ literary craft, emotional depth, and cultural insight, establishing the collection as both an entertaining and thought-provoking work.

At Least a Three Coffee Read

Filled with thought-provoking and empowering ideas, quotes, and wish-I-had-thought-of-thats, and followed by a close re-read with a tri-colour pen for annotations.

A Mennonite Life Essay by Jeff Gundy:

Gundy, Jeff. “Truth, Poetry, and Power, or Said Samatar and the Sayyid.” Mennonite Life 79 (2025): https://ml.bethelks.edu/2025/07/10/truth-poetry-and-power-or-said-samatar-and-the-sayyid/.

Juuuuust puttin this here for now

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Market Copy—Metaphor in the Making

The wheels of literature turn slowly, but they produce without rest, grinding out the vast quantity of grist, meal, and fine flour that create the broad imaginative canon that is Canadian writing.

My personal grindstones have turned out plenty of words—maybe even more than I ever thought I would create. My milestone map looks something like this:

Early Submissions to literary periodicals, anthologies, and contests, Jan/2016-Oct/2023. I began submitting in 2015; however, I was not a Duotrope subscriber until August 28, 2015, so I don’t have accurate submission records for that period, except that my acceptances were zero. 2016-2023, I submitted 501 stories, essays, and interviews with 121 acceptances. Note: Duotrope does not record stats for every market I submitted to, so the submission totals are lower than the actual number sent. I used actual acceptance numbers.

Launch of Debut Collection, Pinching Zwieback “Made-up Stories from the Darp” Oct/2023-Present. With a book out, I continued to submit work for publication in periodicals, etc, but also spent time at launches, other literary events, and Open Mics. I made 123 submissions, with 21 acceptances, and attended 45 in-person events. I’ve had the honour of receiving four Pushcart Prize nominations in the years since I began my imaginative writing life in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry.

Launch of Debut Novel, Mulholland and Hardbar (At Bay Press) Spring 2026. Having another book forthcoming with my wonderful publisher, At Bay Press, I will once again shift gears in my writing practice. I still hope to maintain a steady stream of short story submissions, so 2026 is sure to be an interesting and busy year.

Mulholland and Hardbar: “Like ‘Fargo’ with a Low German accent, Mulholland and Hardbar follows the four seasons in the boreal: friendship, mistrust, deceit, and violence.”

Here’s an IDEA BOARD look at some of the market copy drafted to date concerning my career and including my short story publication work and Pinching Zwieback. New work, including as-yet unpublished short stories, flash fiction, verse and the 2026 novel will inform these sketchbook ideas with more detail.

Mitchell Toews – Author Profile & Literary Positioning

“One chair, one cracked teacup, one quiet sigh”

Overview:
Mitchell Toews is a seasoned Canadian writer whose stories explore the human experience through the lens of Mennonite life, small-town society, and intergenerational dynamics. Across his work—from Pinching Zwieback to his periodical publications—Toews blends humour, pathos, and cultural insight, offering a layered portrayal of community, identity, and moral complexity. His work is distinguished by its balance of comic observation, emotional resonance, and attention to social hierarchies, family dynamics, and the struggles of outsiders within tightly knit communities.

Themes & Motifs:

Coming-of-age & growth: Stories frequently track male protagonists (such as Matt, Lenny, & Diedrich in Pinching Zwieback) navigating the transition from boyhood into adulthood, then into grandparenthood, exploring moral, emotional, and cultural challenges. This trend continues in his upcoming Bildungsroman novel, Mulholland and Hardbar.Cultural heritage & outsider perspective: A recurring focus on Mennonite traditions, language (including Low German), and religious hierarchies, showing both the richness and constraints of cultural identity.Family & community dynamics: Examines intergenerational relationships, the role of women as moral and cultural anchors, and the tension between individual agency and societal expectation.Humour & pathos: Humour often arises from the clash between expectation and reality, offering relief and insight while maintaining the gravity of cultural, ethical, and emotional stakes.Power & agency: Stories explore institutionalized hierarchies, gender roles, and moral courage, often highlighting the overlooked strength of women, the in-between world of children, and the ethical struggles of men.Symbolism & recurring motifs: Bread-making, baseball, and local traditions serve as metaphors for growth, resilience, and cultural continuity.

Style & Technique:

Short stories: Each story functions as a “micro-battle” against expectation, building toward broader narrative and thematic arcs.Narrative voice: Experienced, reflective, often balancing insider knowledge with a playful, empathetic eye.Language play: Incorporates Low German and cultural vernaculars to enrich authenticity, convey identity tension, and provide a foreground for the politics of language.Emotional layering: Combines intimate, personal observation with social commentary; uses juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy, physical risk with moral choice.

Critical Highlights (Summarized):

Armin Wiebe: Toews explores facets of Mennonite life others avoid; combines comedy and tragedy; portrays multi-generational sagas with depth.Donna Besel: Gives sharp insights into the limitations of closed communities; parallels with Miriam Toews in examining cultural clashes.Ralph Friesen: Steinbach’s Mitch Toews champions the underdog; balances humour with heartfelt engagement; moral courage and love as central outcomes.Zilla Jones: Asks universal questions of belonging, conformity, and dissent that emerge in vividly local settings; metaphorically rich prose.Linda Rogers Van Krugel: An author skilled in exploring outsiderhood, moral complexity, and intergenerational growth; offers mastery of language, humour, and cultural nuance.Winnipeg Free Press: Mitch Toews writes with grit, humour, and tenderness, elevating everyday prairie life into unforgettable art. He’s an authentic storyteller—rooted in Mennonite prairie life, yet speaking to the universal. He captures the rhythms of small-town life and renders them with warmth, wit, and lasting resonance.

Positioning:

Strengths: Skilled storyteller bridging cultural specificity and universal themes; adept at linking humour and emotional depth; strong voice for intergenerational and small-town narratives.Unique points: Mennonite cultural insider-outsider lens; layered humour; complex portrayals of gender, hierarchy, and morality; recurring motifs (bread, baseball) anchor stories in tangible, evocative imagery.Audiences: Readers of literary fiction, Canadian prairie literature, “Mennolit” and other cultural heritage narratives, coming-of-age sagas, and intergenerational stories; fans of Miriam Toews, Armin Wiebe, Patrick Friesen, and Andrew Unger.Framing line: “Mitchell Toews writes with wit, wisdom, and heart, turning the intimate worlds of Mennonite family life into universally resonant stories of growth, moral courage, and the humour inherent in navigating the expectations of community and self.”

Artistic Ethos:

“I come to writing fiction from the storyteller’s places: the campfire, the backseat on a long drive, the bar stool.”

Presidential Dicktionary* (Visiting Americer)

Trigger warning: satirical anti-rapist, anti-child molester, anti-national annexation, anti-school shooter, anti-alligator opinions expressed in this humourous/not-so-humourous PSA. If you have contrary beliefs in these areas, please be advised.

*This Presidential Dicktionary (Visiting Americer) is for Canadians who may be confused by the dissonance of their neighbour as they scramble around, saying “Sorry-not sorry,” and looking for the off switch on the “Canadian Wildfire Smoke” machine . . .

This is an abridged dicktionary, it offers a selection of words ending in “or” and “er,” including words ending in “a” when pronounced with an affected Queens accent, as in “Russier, if you’re listening . . .”

Alligator: n, deputized reptilian ICE officer in Florider “Not a lotta people know this, but it’s totally legal, it’s BEAUTIFUL! Trust me.” (Makes chomping motion with arms and flashes dentalwork)

Arnold Palmer: i.) n (pro golfer), as in, “Palmer, he’s all man, trust me;” ii.) n, beverage (when they’re out of Diet Coke)

Bloviator: n, the 45th and 47th POTUS

Californyer: n (place), as in, “a shithole Dem state run by a weak—he’s weak like a dog—governor”

Canader: n (place), a nasty place, “basically commie, they have speed limits on the golf courses, and JUSTIN, (sucks teeth audibly) . . . not that good looking, trust me.”

Deporter: n, armed, deputized, masked umm . . . “terrorist-patriots” who “relocate illegals” and by so-designating them, remove the American constitutional right that says if the government keeps a person in jail, it is obligated to explain why. This is the habeas corpus talk. So: Your 17-year-old, dark-haired, well-melanated daughter happens to be out in the fields at harvest time, before she heads over to cheerleader practice (Go! Huskers!), when a U-haul filled with anonymous armed gunmen pulls up and takes away every person there. Those captured in the round-up, including your daughter, are summarily chained and deported to a foreign jail that has essentially bought them, like livestock. A well-botoxed FOX News anchor declares “another victory in the war on U.S. Border invaders,” and your daughter—now an illegal invader—is not permitted to contact you. We are told that millions of American citizens voted in support of this.

Draft Dodger: n, 45th and 47th POTUS (see also, Bone Spur, in the words ending in ‘ur” Presidential Dicktionary)

Epsteiner: adj, degenerates who appear on the pre-redacted Epstein list, synonyms: frequent flier; island hopper; Molestor in Chief

Farm Worker: (archaic) n, persons once employed in agricultural occupations in the U.S.A. see also deporter and invader

Florider: n (place), a “great place to be rich;” also good for incarcerating the poor and storing Top Secret files

Gerrymander: n/v, what is done in Texas when waiting for wall-building supplies and illegally reallocated funding

Gud Speller: n, someone who spells gud, synonym: “very stable genius”

Imaginary Accordian Player: n, (see image) one who plays the imaginary accordian whenever they lie (reference: Pinocchio, Pants on Fire)

Invader: n, the target of deporters. (Pro Tip: don’t forget to toss out that apple in the cupholder before you attempt to cross the border in Abbotsford—it could get you a free trip to El Salvador!)

Minor: n, a person molested by degenerates without any blow-back from MAGA or “Christians”

Never-Trumper: n, lucid individual

Obamer: n, person accused of being born outside America, despite indisputable evidence to the contrary

Oranger: adj, (an angry, shouted command) instruction to the make-up team; to darken; “Make it oranger, damn it!”

Payer: v, (command) “when she threatens to expose your crimes, you pay her,” see also “NDA”

Prayer: v, what some people, “even if they are terrific Christians,” don’t have to do because, “they are perfect, trust me”

Pushover (Pussies): n, golf clubs that allow gimmes in their club championship, synonym: cheater

Schutzstaffel Reichsführer: n (title), White House Deputy Chief of Staff

Shooter: i.) n, individual who shoots a weapon, including Thomas Matthew Crooks, who has mysteriously been forgotten since killing and critically wounding audience members on July 15, 2024, at a political rally in Pennsylvania ii.) n, a person firing an AR-15 or similar weapon in a public place (there’s a new one every few days) “Guns don’t kill people, low water pressure in the shower kills people . . . “

Trumper: n, as in, “SCOTUS has a Trumper majority”

Vaginer: n, “the place they let you grab when you’re famous”

Viler: adj, measurement, as in, “Who is viler, Marjorie Taylor Greene, FLOTUS, or Ghislaine?”

Voter: n, what “radical Dems” are accused of stealing; what may disappear in future U.S. politics

Younger: adj, a certain Epstein island-hopper’s openly stated preference in companions, as in, “Great guy, Epstein . . . like me, he likes ’em younger” (also see Epsteiner, Minor, Payer, Vaginer, Viler)

Presidential Dicktionary

Am/Want to Be/Will Be

I’ve been working a lot lately on what kind of writer I am . . . what kind I want to be . . . and what I will eventually be. There are countless English language journals, anthologies, bookshops and libraries in the world, and that translates into I-have-no-idea-how-many fiction readers. Regardless of the actual number, I know and accept that I can’t be the writer for all of them.

What I can be is a writer who is consistent in certain core ways and is comfortable with that. Maybe most important in these fractious times is to be aware of what my writing constitutes and what it does not.

Self-analysis begins with “self,” so here is a scratch-coat version of the literary and authorial elements I believe are most important to me. For context, I’m nearly seventy years old, a prairie resident who began my fiction practice in 2016, after 20 years in advertising and marketing. I have one published book, “Pinching Zwieback” (At Bay Press, 2023). I’ve published 142 individual stories (including excerpts, interviews, poems, and essays) and have a novel forthcoming in the spring of 2026. With any luck, I’ll also have another book out sometime after that.

That’s a lot of words, so I BETTER know what I am and what I’m not.

Yep List

√ Prioritize quality of prose and storytelling
√ Commitment to craft over cachet
√ Focus on regional or rural sensibility—without being provincial
√ Heartful, deeply human prose with unshowy language
√ Value meaning and emotional depth over literary fashion

“Be political—but to be heard, be quiet and mature in a noisy era.”

√ Write place-based prose with resonance
√ Be humble and consistent (AVOID pomposity!)
√ Hold to empathic realism and clarity
√ Recognize that emotional intelligence, rural ethics, and cultural humility are the ethos of your readers
√ Moral nuance and intergenerational narratives are central traits in the writing

“Emotion must be earned through character, situation, and moral complication.”

√ Embrace moral ambiguity—we all have it
√ Spiritual content need not be religious content (no sermons)
√ Build on strong character underpinnings and clean prose with a steady, but constant, moral arc
√ Be attuned to displacement, contradiction, and the need to belong
√ Interrogate beliefs and also what people “get away with,” and at what cost?

“Always be curious and honest about fairness, decency, and failure in the story.”

Nope List

× No authorial moralizing
× Reader catharsis is never the primary objective—no melodrama or superheroes
× No authorial identity—tell the story and let social class, rurality, and age arise through the fiction
× Write lean but never at the expense of the emotional arc or the distinctiveness of place
× Create quiet stories, but don’t be afraid to “make the quiet sharp”

“As soon as it’s read, it ceases to be your story—it belongs to each individual reader.”

× No apologies (Sin Qua Non)

Photo by Eric Peters

A Barefoot List

Summer Reading

Saskatchewan

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