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 ofplace × 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
Please feel free to share this post! I welcome all comments.
Minus the scuttling of rats and absent Blues Traveler, Joni Mitchell, George Carlin, Hettie Jones, and the Reverend Bob Dylan, Steinbach’s The Public Brewhouse and Gallery did a strong impression of one of the halcyon NYC music-drinks-spoken word shrines of the Sixties, Mennist style. https://thepublicbrewhouseandgallery.ca/
I felt during this evening the “crackle of the universe,” to quote William Burroughs, who—if he was a Mennonite, wasn’t very good at it. Or was maybe extremely good at it. Opinions vary. (He prooooooobably was not a Mennonite. Possibly a Lutheran.)
Mennonites were on tap because it was a FUNDRAISER for the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum, arranged by departing executive Nathan Dyck. A fine vocalist, as it turns out—no great surprise as so many Mennonites are good singers. It’s true, scientific, even. Ask any CSNY (Cornie Stoesz or Neufeld, Yasch). https://mennoniteheritagevillage.com/
Literati Erin Koop Unger and Andrew Unger led off with a travelogue deep dive into the Mennonite enclave that was the Vistula Delta in northern Poland. Their visit to the region generated a fascinating study in Mennonite history from the time when many Anabaptists were “encouraged” to leave the Lowlands of western Europe and found a home in G’dansk, a place of flood and relative religious tolerance. https://www.mennotoba.com/https://andrewunger.com/
Paul Bergman entertained with music in two rhythmic, jazzy, silky sets that offset the historical mood and gave us some stardust for our beer. https://paulbergmanmusic.com/
I chimed in with some historical factoids from Ralph Friesen’s “Prosperity Ever Depression Never” and other other pub-style fare. I told two extemporaneous stories about personal experiences at the Tourist Hotel, but I think those went unrecorded. Here’s my written text:
I’ll begin by giving you some historical context for the Tourist Hotel, and its alehouse, the likes of which first began in Roman Britain, and according to Wikipedia, one of the most longstanding of which is “Sean’s Bar, in the medieval town of Athlone in the Republic of Ireland… the oldest pub in Europe, dating back to 900 AD.”
More recently, here’s a reading from “Prosperity Ever Depression Never” by Ralph Friesen, Pages 49-50:
[…] (“On Main Street, next to Abraham A. Toews Five Cents to One Dollar store) was the Steinbach Hotel. The hotel, beer parlour included, was owned and operated by Henry Coote, who grew up on a Mennonite farm as one of thousands of British “home children” sent to Canada because their families were too poor to care for them. Immediately next door was another hotel, the Tourist Hotel, built in 1927 by the Peter B. Peters family… descendants of Jacob Peters who had led the Bergthal Colony Mennonites in the 1874 immigration. In 1931… the Peters family bought (Coote’s Steinbach) hotel… running both the Tourist and the Steinbach hotels… In 1934… the Peters family collaborated with Hugh McDiarmid, a retired RCMP officer to apply for their (contentious beer parlour) licence, and this strategy worked…Steinbach remained “wet” for… decades.”
And from Barry Dyck, a Retired Executive Director of the Mennonite Heritage Village, in a mySteinbach article titled, “A Look Back at Steinbach’s former Tourist Hotel:
[…] “The Tourist Hotel… (did business) on Steinbach’s Main Street from 1928 to 1976… In 1930 it expanded to include a dining room and a “men-only” Beer Parlour. The parlour was not without controversy, however, and efforts were made to close it. In 1950 Steinbach voted for the prohibition of liquor sales. However, a separate vote of 398 to 214 allowed the Tourist Hotel beer parlour to stay open under a grandfather clause.”
And now, my own story about spending a night at the Tourist Hotel. “So, in January of 1969, when I was fourteen… ”
~ ~ ~
Next, to bring you to the wide world of bars and beer and drinking establishments—maybe some a bit different than The Public and the Tourist Hotel—here’s a fictional story about another public house. Imagine a saloon in the Irish village of Nobber (where one of my sons-in-law was born), a dimly-lit place dedicated to the sale and consumption of liquor, where they might have a pool table or a jukebox (perhaps playing “Mama Told Me Not to Come” by Randy Newman) and maybe some pickled eggs in a large jar made unappetizing by the presence of indistinct organic flotsam suspended in the yellowed vinegar… as if someone shook out a dusty rag into it. We enter the establishment near closing time when the barkeep and three male customers are the only occupants... (pensive music in background)
Photo: Erin Koop Unger
One Night at Keogan’s
“If you drinks in this bar, you buys me a pint. Or else.”
I’ve removed the text with the hope that I can sell the story and have it appear somewhere else.
~ ~ ~
Keogan’s Bar is a place you may have visited or might want to, just for the experience. In the case of the Tourist Hotel Beverage Room, you could have visited, as long as you were not a woman. Neither could women tend bar there—of the hundreds of thousands of watery draft beer pulled in Steinbach, none of them were drawn by a female hand. Steinbach was not the only one to have that gender bias; it was relatively common in places as far-removed as Warman, Sask., Winnipeg Beach, and The Terminal Club in Vancouver. In the Sixties, a small glass of beer was—by Manitoba Provincial law—15-cents in a men’s only beer parlour and 25-cents in a beverage room that served women. In 1978, I had a beer with a female co-worker at a soccer-mad tavern in Toronto where women were admitted but not served. This was explained to us and I bought two draft and gave her one of them, as our waiter suggested. (Apparently, gifts were allowed.) So in keeping with these thoughts, and to put you in a fighting mood before I tell my next story, here is a poem by Danielle Coffyn:
If Adam Picked The Apple
There would be a parade, a celebration, a holiday to commemorate the day he sought enlightenment. We would not speak of temptation by the devil, rather, we would laud Adam’s curiosity, his desire for adventure and knowing. We would feast on apple-inspired fare: tortes, chutneys, pancakes, pies. There would be plays and songs reenacting his courage.
But it was Eve who grew bored, weary of her captivity in Eden. And a woman’s desire for freedom is rarely a cause for celebration.
~ ~ ~
Finally, here’s a story I also experienced first-hand, which might be called Können Frauen hier kein Bier kaufen???
Here it is, from Barkman Avenue to your countertop. Bake with joy.
Zwieback Recipe
From Steinbach Bakery Ltd., kitchen-tested by Doug Toews, Wpg., Man.
20 Zwieback buns.
NOTE: Much better results for frozen/reheated buns when produced with canola oil. The original recipe calls for 1/3 – 1/2 cup butter or lard for buns you plan to eat fresh and not freeze.
Ingredients.
-1/2 cup water for proofing the yeast. (Optional: use leftover potato-boiling water. The bakery did not use that but it is a traditional way to make Zwieback. Why waste water?)
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup canola oil
melted butter for brushing the buns after baking
1-1/2 to 2 tsp. salt (to taste)
3 to 4 tbsp. sugar (to taste)
1 tbsp yeast – 2 packages
4-1/2 – 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour Preparation.
Mix 3 cups of flour with the yeast and then add the water and other ingredients. Mix well. Then work in the rest of the flour as needed and knead for 10 minutes. A slow first rise of 1 to 1-1/4 hours will give a better- tasting bun. Punch down and let rest 10 minutes. Pinch into ball and form the buns. A little water (just a dab) on top of the base helps keep the top on. Cover with heavy plastic or wax paper (helps keep the tops on) and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Centre rack or slightly above centre to prevent the bun bottoms from being overdone. Optionally brush or rub with butter when just cool enough to handle.
Please feel free to share this post! I welcome all comments.
Mitchell Toews is a Manitoba-based fiction writer whose debut short story collection, Pinching Zwieback, was published in October 2023:
Background Toews grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba, in his parents’ Mennonite bakery. He’s been published in over 125 literary journals and anthologies, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize four times. He’s also been a finalist in several major contests and prizes.
Pinching Zwieback Toews’s debut collection is a blend of memory, fable, and trauma that explores life experiences in the fictional Mennonite prairie town of “Hartplatz”. The book has been well-reviewed, appeared on several local bestseller lists, and is being discussed in book clubs.
Other work Toews is currently working on a second collection of short stories and a novel. He’s also collaborating with Phil Hossack on an ekphrastic prose/photographic art book.
Engagement Toews reads at libraries, bookstores, and open mics, and also leads a workshop called “Writing Your Culture”. You can find him on:
Mitchellaneous.com: His blog for updates, news, and other information
So that’s it, then? A writer, a Manitoban. No mention of the rest of my life, including living in Chilliwack, my 47-year marriage to Jan, our kids and grandkids (who will change the world, if they have not already), starting and running a manufacturing business, working in advertising for 20 years and being an active sort… out cursing and getting bruised and exhibiting “warning track power” no matter which sport—a trait that includes a highly selective memory when it comes to skills, courage, and accomplishments. (“Still,” I pout, “at least I always got my uniform dirty.”)
I think AI is right to focus on what it has—I use the internet primarily to promote my writing because, dammmit Jim, that’s just what a writer has to do these days!
I am en grade: AI may suddenly turn on me. Why? Well, I often make fun of the AI that runs my daughter’s refrigerator (“Here’s today’s weather for Zanzibar” it says, after I hack the geo-locator in the settings—hee-hee!). I also throw shade at her snooty 3D printer, and my n’er-do-well regular printer (whom I call “O, Brother, where for art thou?” when it fails to print). These bad relationships may colour AI’s appraisal of me. I am courting AI revenge! I need to let AI feel more seen, be more inclusive to AI, and give them/they/it the benefit of my human capacity to be empathetic, even if they are incapable of emotions. (Does AI get my “O, Brother… ” joke? I think it does, on an intellectual level. Does it laugh? Is AI ticklish? Does AI have a weakness for old Carol Burnett Show vids?)
My other question is, “Has AI read my book? Has AI read all of my published work? Does AI like my Menno-Grit style or are they/is it more inclined towards Sci-fi or Fantasy? (I do get a kind of D&D vibe off of AI, don’t you?)
Anyway, do a search for “AI Overview Your Name” and see what my daughter’s refrigerator thinks of you, you Zanzibarian, you.
Please feel free to share this post! I welcome all comments.
Originally posted on a friend’s Facebook page. The italic comments are my subsequent additions. (Cooler heads prevailing? Maybe…)
Who looks out for low-income Canadians? The lawmakers? Okay, but aren’t they mostly wealthy individuals, some for many generations?
If not most, then many. After all, their salary, benefits, celebrity, and pension are enough to be financially attractive to most Canadians.
Aren’t many others “first-generation wealthy” who might see their elected membership in Parliament (and other institutions) as a handy, effective means of wealth generation and preservation? A few might be from lower income cohorts but far more (a statistical majority, in fact) are likely to be extremely rich; elites who may take the attitude that, “if the poor don’t like it, they should have made more money!”
“Extremely rich” is hyperbolic, but compared to those of average income and debt loads (who lack the opportunity to earn income after their public political life), many elected officials are financially well-off.
All those elected officials who complain that government pharmaceutical programs would be “socialist” activities are likely wealthy (and so do not fully appreciate the burden of pharmaceutical costs), likely don’t see “the poor” as a significant voting block, and are probably recipients of MP (or other gov’t position) pharma, dental, travel, etc. care plans.
The “Falk in our stars” are those who, as members of Parliament or Provincial Legislatures have a Pharma plan as part of their government pay package. If it disgusts him to the point of public displays of angry bluster, (and if I could) I would gladly take over TF’s coverage. I won’t vote for him as a result (that transaction would be illegal), but I will feel better about his election rhetoric and he will be able to point to his noble intent and superior moral character.
A better remedy than my angry rant might be to go back and read “The Grapes of Wrath” again.
Please feel free to share this post! I welcome all comments.
My attendance at literary meetings is rewarding (and nerve-wracking). From a coffee shop tête-à-tête, a living room get-together, a workshop, or a formal literary festival, I advocate these gatherings despite their introvert-daunting nature. 🙂 The blend of writers, published authors, publishers, readers, editors, librarians, booksellers, critics, literary academics, and educators can take many forms, all invigorating,
Here is a summary of my experiences based on my professional journey and what I can offer as a literary speaker, panelist, or workshop presenter for literary events.
(March 30, 2024) Parable Addendum: “An enterprising individual is on a Trans-Atlantic ocean crossing, heading for Halifax. The ship strikes an iceberg and sinks. The entrepreneur survives by floating atop a wooden grand piano lid and immediately upon being rescued and reaching Canada, opens a grand piano lid floatation device manufacturing company. . . “
What I’m saying is that my experiences are just that: my experiences. I am—like raccoons, cockroaches, and many entrepreneurs—a born survivor. Survival instincts ain’t always pretty and depend on circumstances: what you encounter and the resources you can use to overcome your challenges. As in the story of the piano lid, I’m not advocating you follow my specific path. I’m only saying that I did what I felt was best at the time and in my circumstances. I sought as much, and the best professional assistance I could get. Craft is not everything but it is a huge component. The way I approached my literary career as a writer was—and is—constrained by, among many things, talent, location, my age, time, and financial resources.
(Thanks to writer-friend Doug Hawley for his note reminding me to explain the underlying truths of my “curriculum.”)
Mitchell Toews: A Grass Roots POV
Background in advertising and corporate communications. Persuasion, copywriting, ad copy, marcom: a perspective on the differences and the similarities vis à vis creative writing and fiction.
Writing practice grounded in Canada, small towns, the prairies, the boreal, and the Canadian Mennonite community.
Bootstrap artistic journey: shifting from corporate and marketing communications to creative writing—keeping the good, identifying the irrelevant (and the problematic).
Returning to early ambitions to write professionally and facing the difficulties of an “Act II” existence.
Overcoming ageism and the bias against older emerging writers in CanLit: staying positive and stoic in a challenging environment and resisting the slide into victimhood.
Journeyman’s approach: over 800 submissions to the “slush piles” of literary periodicals, contests, and anthologies. (With over 120 resultant publications.)
Self-promotion within the context of the small press and independent (non-agented) landscape within Canadian literature.
The importance of independent bookstores, libraries, and museums.
The Open Mic for writers: more than just a chance to hang out with musicians.
Book launches, readings, panel discussions, and book club author nights.
Workshops and critique groups.
Working with freelance editors (*see Sidebar), press editors, publishers, and publicists.
Working with Writers in Residence.
Social Media vs. “Shut up and write.”
Acquiring blurbs and reviews.
Literary and Arts organizations: Guilds, Unions, Councils.
Grant writing. Keep it short.
Professional development for the rural writer.
Creating a personalized workshop topic: seeing your strength. (Mine is “Writing your Culture.”)
Paying it forward: building your allyhood, being an artistic comrade.
AI: the dog that bites its owner.
Wealth: the unspoken truth.
Thoughts on “tarnishment” and the personal authorial voice.
*Sidebar. Early on, I was introduced to a young, male author from England with an impressive resume. We struck a deal and he instructed, mentored, and edited me for two years. I invested over $2000 in our online interactions (about 900 emails!!) and this was a transformational step for me—both the commitment and the results.
The right person and work arrangement are critical; James Mcknight was the appropriate choice for me. After our engagement ended, I extended my reach to study with other instructors and mentors, but James was a true lifesaver in my case.
Mitchell Toews: Proud member of The Writers’ Union of Canada
Please feel free to share this post! I welcome all comments.
Mitchell Toews 