“Mitchell smiled with his bruised mouth,” to paraphrase Mr. Steinbeck.
Somebody PINCH Me!
“Mitchell smiled with his bruised mouth,” to paraphrase Mr. Steinbeck.
Fast Links: Pinching Zwieback by Manitoba Author Mitchell Toews
THIS PAGE HAS BEEN CONSOLIDATED HERE: https://mitchellaneous.com/2023/09/30/pinching-zwieback-book-author-publication-event-details/
October 24, 2023: The official launch day for Pinching Zwieback, Mitchell Toews debut collection of short stories from At Bay Press. Release Date is November 7, 2023. Mitchell and wife Janice live on Jessica Lake, in the boreal forest on Treaty 1 & 3 territory, the home of the Métis Nation.
Events: https://mitchellaneous.com/2023/10/20/pinching-zwieback-events/
Where to Purchase: “Pinching Zwieback” ISBN 9781998779055 by Mitchell Toews (At Bay Press, Wpg) may be purchased at:
From At Bay Press: “Individual orders are placed through our website by adding books to your cart and then checking out with our secure online payment. Orders may also be placed over the phone by calling 204-489-6658 and payment will be taken over the phone. You may send an email with any questions or concerns to atbaypress@gmail.com.”
McNally Robinson Booksellers all locations.
The gift shops at both Mennonite Heritage Village (Steinbach) and Mennonite Heritage Museum (Abbotsford).
CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre in Winnipeg, MB
Manitoba Made Events & Shop in Lac du Bonnet, MB
Shop in person: Canadian Bookstore Map or visit the At Bay Press website SHOP LOCAL page to find the Independent book store near you.
Virtually all ONLINE book sources WORLDWIDE including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Thriftbooks, etc.
Libraries and booksellers in Canada and the U.S. may purchase books from At Bay Press’s distribution partners:
Canada: http://www.litdistco.ca/
U.S.: https://www.casemateipm.com/9781998779055/pinching-zwieback/
Aus/NZ: https://peribo.com.au/
Other countries: Please see https://atbaypress.com/ordering or contact Matt Joudrey atbaypress@gmail.com
Requesting “Pinching Zwieback” by Mitchell Toews (At Bay Press, Wpg, 2023) at your favourite bookstore or library is also a simple way to get a copy!
Be sure to look out for author and publisher events and check with Mitch or Matt on how to receive signed copies or for information concerning special situations like review or interview requests.
“Imbued with the turbulence of an ancestral river, the joy of a toboggan careening down an icy run, and the despair of dreams broken on a distant hockey rink, Mitchell Toews’ stories ask universal questions, about belonging, conforming and dissenting, all the while rooted in the snowdrifts and sun-drenched fields of a small prairie town. The answers emerge hot from the oven, fragrant like the zwieback buns of the title: we find ourselves in our family, and memories, and forgiveness, as familiar and soothing as the worn leather of a much-loved baseball glove.”—Zilla Jones, Journey Prize winner and finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award
Pinching Zwieback Events
Image: Author Mitchell Toews reads at the annual Prosetry event at Jessica Lake, in the Winnipeg River basin of eastern Manitoba.
Book launches, book chats, readings, panel discussions, and writing sessions coming up as Mitchell Toews’ debut collection of short stories is mixed, proofed, punched, cut, pinched, and baked.
Pinching Zwieback: Made-up Stories from the Darp (Updates and schedule changes provided asap)
Nov 2 Mennonite Heritage Museum, Abbotsford “Books and Borscht” meal at noon, book chat at 1 P.M.
Nov 8 McNally Robinson Booksellers Grant Park, Winnipeg Mitch will read from “Pinching Zwieback” and will join Ariel Gordon (co-author-poet, with Brenda Schmidt) who will introduce “Siteseeing,” a book in which, “The poets wrote about the natural world and people making their way through it all.” The evening will be hosted by Sue Sorensen (another At Bay Press author) and Sue will read for Brenda who cannot be in attendance this evening. 7 P.M.
Nov 9 St. John’s Heritage Church & Arts Centre, Lac du Bonnet with Ariel Gordon (“Siteseeing”), Mitch and At Bay Press publisher, Matt Joudrey. Local musicians will complement the readings: singer-songwriters Bernadette Carlson, Lefty Auger (Daryl Reimer), and Paul McIntosh. 7 P.M. This event will rock.
Nov 15 Mennonite Heritage Village, Local Authors Night in Steinbach with Host Nita Wiebe, and Elma Koop, Mary Lou Driedger, Noreen Janzen, and Mitch. 7 P.M.
Nov 18 The Public Brewhouse, Steinbach with EmCee Andrew Unger and co-hosts Dave Driedger and John “Hans” Neufeld for beer (or tasty non-alcoholic alternatives) and book chat. 7 P.M. (Arrive early—limited seating.)
Nov 21 Public Library, Altona 7 P.M. Book launch.
Nov 22 Public Library, Pinawa 7 P.M. Book launch.
Nov 23 Public Library, Winkler 7 P.M. Book launch.
Nov 28 Public Library, Morden 7 P.M. Book launch.
Dec 3 Fireside Book Market, Park Theatre, Winnipeg with authors and publishers from four local presses for a fall fest of book sales, signings, and lots of book chatter. 10 A.M.—6 P.M.
Dec 13 The Listening Room Open Mic, Lac du Bonnet 7 P.M. Mitch will sign-up on the Open Mic list and read a few selections from Pinching Zwieback in the historic St. John’s Heritage Church & Arts Centre. (Books for sale, here at one of Mitch’s “happy places.”)
.
Dates TBA in the Public Libraries in Kenora (2023) and Lac du Bonnet (Spring 2024)
https://atbaypress.com/books/detail/pinching-zwieback
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… Life is reaching for the light, which never falters even as the human characters flicker and fade.—Poet Laureate, feminist, and author Linda Rogers Van Krugel
~ ~ ~
Mitch Toews speaks from the margins of small-town society, claiming a space for the underdog and the undervalued. His characters must go through all manner of tests and challenges, but in the end–love wins. —Ralph Friesen, author of Between Earth & Sky: Steinbach’s First 50 Years and Dad, God, and Me.
~ ~ ~
Moves like a tide through visceral daily experiences—quintessentially Canadian, some heart wrenching, each powerfully evocative.”—Alanna Rusnak, Blank Spaces Magazine.
~ ~ ~
Mitchell Toews’ stories range from Tom Sawyer-like tales of boyhood squabbles to the heartbreak of family dysfunction to the cruelty of small-town hypocrisy. Hilarious and tragic in turn, Toews explores facets of Mennonite life that other Mennonite writers have not touched.—Armin Wiebe, author of The Salvation of Yasch Siemens and Grandmother and many more.
Would You Read?
Menno Porn? “Uhhh… what is that (?) and no thanks.”
Historical Mennonite Fiction? “Yes, I love those. They represent the combined zenith of art and social discourse. I love immersing myself in a lush imaginary world with numerous distinct characters… and six generations, two wars, eight church splinterings…and a book that WestJet charges extra to bring on board. I love them but I need a bigger purse. I love them, but…”
Okay. So, not unlike historical fiction but possibly a bit more compact? Something with some angst? Something with some joy? A little grit? (A LOT of grit?) Some humour? Something true to the heart, but with a roaming nature and an observational stance? Short stories perhaps? Episodes with an eclectic recurrent cast of recognizable (but fictional) characters wound around a common core—barbed wire both rusted and new, braided with ribbons of a brighter hue? A book where “love wins” but the issue is often in doubt? A not-so-quiet telling of the quiet in the land, by one who is part-outsider while ineffably an insider’s insider? “Hmmm. Possibly. Does it happen to have a Plautdietsch glossary guaranteed to start arguments at the Tim Hortons and Adult Sunday School?”
THE REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE’S CONTENT IS CONSOLIDATED HERE: https://mitchellaneous.com/2023/09/30/pinching-zwieback-book-author-publication-event-details/
“Pinching Zwieback: Made-up Stories from the Darp” is now available to order.
Mitchell Toews’ debut collection of short stories from At Bay Press (Wpg) is in stock and ready for orders from booksellers, libraries, and individuals. (Reviewers: please inquire.) It will be carried by McNally Robinson Booksellers, Manitoba Made (Lac du Bonnet), the gift shop/book shops in the Mennonite Museums in Steinbach & Abbotsford, and (hopefully) many other bookstores. All the usual online sources will carry PZ. Ask for a copy at your favourite bookshop or library!
Where to buy—a GROWING LIST: At Bay Press (Wpg), the gift shop/book shops in the Mennonite Museums in Abbotsford, BC & Steinbach, MB, the University of Victoria Bookstore, McNally Robinson Booksellers (Canada wide), Manitoba Made (Lac du Bonnet, MB), CommonWords, (Wpg,) and many other bookstores to follow. All the usual ONLINE sources will carry PZ including Amazon, Amazon.ca, Indigo-Chapters, Google Books, Barnes & Noble, Thrift Books, Booktopia, Tertulia, WHSmith, Magers and Quinn Booksellers, Wook, Mighty Ape, Peribo, Foyles, Angus & Robertson, Bol.com, Bertrand, 49th Kids, Books-a-Million, Okian (Japan), and more.
From 1874 Russia to 21st century Manitoba and British Columbia, Mitchell Toews’ linked stories present us with a boisterous and poignant family saga unlike any other in Mennonite literature.—Armin Wiebe, author of The Salvation of Yasch Siemens and Grandmother, Laughing. http://www.arminwiebe.ca/
(More review blurbs: https://mitchellaneous.com/2023/10/11/early-praise-for-pinching-zwieback-2/)
Look for the in-depth review by renowned Canadian poet, author, and raconteur, Linda Rogers van Krugel of Victoria, coming soon with more reviews to follow from other literary sources in the US and Canada.
Of note: October 2023, Mitchell Toews’ new story “Saskatchewan” was Shortlisted for the inaugural Nona Macdonald Heaslip $15,000 “Best Canadian Short Story” Competition and Award in memory of Morley Callaghan from Exile Quarterly/Exile Editions.
Contacts, ordering:
At Bay Press
Matt Joudrey
319 Queenston St.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
R3N 0W9
atbaypress@gmail.com
204-489-6658
Cdn distributor for At Bay Press, LitDistCo: http://www.litdistco.ca/
USA distributor, Casemate: https://www.casemateipm.com/9781998779055/pinching-zwieback/
Schedule of Events: Mennonite Heritage Museum, Abbotsford Nov 2, McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park, Wpg Nov 8, Lac du Bonnet Nov 9, Mennonite Heritage Village, Steinbach Nov 15, The Public Brewhouse & Gallery with emcee Andrew Unger, Steinbach Nov 18. Pinawa Library, Pinawa, MB, Nov 2023 (TBA), Lac du Bonnet Regional Library, LdB, MB Spring 2024 (TBA).
Mitch (“Has books, will travel”) is available for book readings and events and is particularly interested in discussions on “writing your culture.”
“I come to writing fiction from the storyteller’s places: the campfire, the backseat on a long drive, the beer parlour.” —MJT
BOOK REVIEWS, AUTHOR INTERVIEWS, COMMENTARY & “BLURBS”
“Pinching Zwieback: Made-up Stories from the Darp”
Overview; Artistic Creed
I come to writing fiction from the storyteller’s places: the campfire, the backseat on a long drive, the bar stool.
Everyday people’s stories inspire me because they demonstrate how extraordinary every life is and allow us to recognize what unites and divides us. As editor, poet, and writer Judith Lawrence of Lambertville, NJ has suggested and what I strive for is, “A unique writer’s voice… the pure untarnished colloquial rawness in the reading. Having something to say… to be startled, drawn into the story, even if it’s in the stillness, or the lines between the lines of the work.*”
*https://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com/2013/07/six-questions-for-judith-lawrence.html
Literary Indices
“Pinching Zwieback” is indexed here: Mennonite/s Writing in Canada Bibliography: https://mennonitebibs.wordpress.com/mennonite-s-writing-in-canada-bibliography/
Overall Summary
Nov 16, 2025: Mitchell Toews, since 2016, has been placed on 27 shortlist-longlist-finalist groupings in contests in the US, the UK, and Canada. In addition, Toews was nominated by Pulp Literature for the 2025 Writers’ Trust McClelland Stewart JOURNEY PRIZE for his story “All Our Swains Commend Her” and has received four PUSHCART PRIZE nominations, from three separate periodicals (two in Canada, one in the US).
Pinching Zwieback: A McNally Robinson Bookseller “BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON” selection, a staff pick, and a multi-week Manitoba bestselling paperback fiction book. #6 across CANADA in January 2024 on the Hamilton Review of Books Indie Bestseller list!
Pinching Zwieback: the Winnipeg Free Press Book Club selection for November 2024. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/book-club?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJejsiQ1BSxLcUz1km7UP6BI0ggBeBSJNMegjokTfgxfsgxNBemh5ghoCA4cQAvD_BwE
Mitchell Toews: Miramichi Reader’s “Why I Wrote This Book” feature. https://miramichireader.ca/2024/08/why-i-wrote-this-book-issue-33/
Reviews, Launches, Interviews, and Excerpts
Prairie Books NOW Synopsis: Fall/Winter 2023 “These stories portray small-town Mennonite life with humour and poignancy. Linked by a common community and recurrent characters, the stories show families reconfiguring as necessary, young boys growing to be men, and women learning to be bold in the
midst of tight societal expectations.” (At Bay Press, $24.95 pb, 400 pages, isbn: 978-1-998779-05-5)
Free Press Book Club Synopsis: November 19, 2024 “In the 20 linked stories Toews has created, characters pop in and out, are introduced and then briefly forgotten, re-emerging later in the book in a different stage of life, bringing new voices in the form of kids and grandkids along with them... Though these stories are ‘made up from the darp,’ as Toews says, Pinching Zwieback reads like a memoir; the characters Toews has developed feel full, real and relatable.”—Ben Sigurdson, Winnipeg Free Press Literary Editor https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2024/11/09/mennonite-manitoba-stories-on-tap-for-free-press-book-club
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Dec 30, 2023 https://www.WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/2023/12/30/chekhov-of-the-darp “a stunner…”
“Why I Wrote This Book” feature in The Miramichi Review, August 4, 2024 https://miramichireader.ca/2024/08/why-i-wrote-this-book-issue-33/ “Like most authors, I had numerous reasons to write my book. Legacy, heritage, tell my story my way, and so on. Valid reasons. I had these plus some ulterior motivation…”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review/Author Interview June 13, 2024 (Jake Epp Public Library, Steinbach, MB) https://steinbachonline.com/articles/local-authors-debut-book-strikes-global-chord-with-relatable-tales- “Local author’s debut book strikes global chord…”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Nov 22, 2023 https://anabaptistworld.org/new-books-for-2023-fiction-books/ “a collection of stories of practical folk discerning across generations what should remain and what should be let go…”
“Pinching Zwieback” story selected as a Mentor Text for the Moving Writers website, a US/Ca site for English teachers, by English teachers. The story Fall from Grace was chosen March 20, 2024 for its strength in illustrating how to: “establish a setting… create a voice… tell one great story… and include a moral to the story.” https://movingwriters.org/2024/03/20/mentor-text-wednesday-fall-from-grace/ “Even if you only give your writers the first two paragraphs of this story, you’re giving them a great mentor text for establishing a setting. Those paragraphs do more than establish the sense of place, but they give a very visceral sense of what it means for the narrator to be in that place. Using the imagery of the first paragraph, and the rules and conditions of the second, we are placed in the youth of the narrator.”
Hollay Ghadery: Rural Writer Spotlight Author Interview Jan 6, 2024 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/oSqzqKJAvXp9KvQm/?mibextid=oFDknk “My focus has been prairie stories. My forthcoming work (a novel, set in Winnipeg and for the majority of the book, in the Canadian boreal wilderness near the 50th parallel) continues in that place so clear to me but also draws into other resonant locations, including Winnipeg, the boreal shield in Manitoba and urban characters and scenes from southwestern British Columbia. I am most often described as a storyteller with grit and I wear that tag with pride.”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Dec 20, 2023 https://www.literaryheist.com/articles/stories-from-the-darp/ “Toews has the gift of making other people seen and heard…”
Author Interview Dec 7, 2023 https://winklermordenvoice.ca/services/download.ashx?doc=WinklerVoice120723.pdf “real-life feelings, characters, and places...”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Dec 5, 2023 https://themeanderer.ca/pinching-zwieback-a-review/ “The stories whisper words of wisdom…”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Dec 5, 2023 https://bit.ly/GNormanREVIEW_PZ “gritty realism in his characters and a profoundly human strength in his storylines…”
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Review Nov, 2023 https://maryloudriedger2.wordpress.com/2023/11/28/pinching-zwieback/ “poignant, evocative, touching, humorous and heart-wrenching…”
“Pinching Zwieback” Excerpt Nov 27, 2023 https://www.mennotoba.com/excerpt-from-pinching-zwieback-by-mitchell-toews/
“Pinching Zwieback” Book Launch/Reading Nov 8, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/live/49xiY1jRSYs “stories filled with life, filled with vitality—written by a storyteller…”
Author Interview Jan 6, 2023 https://www.pressenza.com/2023/06/i-used-to-be-an-animal-lover-conversation-rhys-barbara-mitchell-part-i/ “I strive to ‘ambush’ difficult or inflated personal memories by letting my characters take the story and reshape it…”
Author Interview Feb 14, 2021 https://literallystories2014.com/2021/02/14/literally-reruns-so-are-they-all-by-mitchell-toews/ “a gentle yet unsentimental touch…”
Author Interview Jan 28, 2021 https://www.blankspaces.ca/coffee-chats/coffee-chat-with-mitchell-toews “a quotidian setting, rich descriptions, relatable characters, human strengths and weaknesses on display, sorrow offset with quiet, cathartic humour…”
Author Interview Dec 19, 2019 https://mysmallpresswritingday.blogspot.com/2019/12/mitchell-toews-my-writing-day-and-offer.html “Utter cockwash…” 🙂
Author Interview Nov 14, 2018 https://www.mennotoba.com/mennonite-memes-like-our-food-make-for-a-rich-diet-5-questions-with-author-mitch-toews/ “I was born here and Steinbach and the Mennonite Borscht Belt are a hovering omnipresence in many of my stories…”
Commentary
Armin Wiebe
• Mitchell Toews’ stories range from Tom Sawyer-like tales of boyhood squabbles to the heartbreak of family dysfunction to the cruelty of small-town hypocrisy. Hilarious and tragic in turn, Toews explores facets of Mennonite life that other Mennonite writers have not touched.
• Mitchell Toews’ stories add more layers to the world that has given us Patrick Friesen, Lynnette (Dueck) D’anna, Miriam Toews, and Andrew Unger. Racism, class conflict, and economic and religious snobbery form the background for the sometimes comic, sometimes excruciating human dramas experienced by four generations of the Zehen family.
• With a family bakery at the heart of what links them, these are hockey and baseball stories, love stories, drinking stories, father-son stories, mother-daughter stories, outsider stories, getting even stories, in which characters face high stakes perils, sometimes emotional, sometimes physical, sometimes life and death menacing.
• From 1874 Russia to 21st century Manitoba and British Columbia, Mitchell Toews’ linked stories present us with a boisterous and poignant family saga unlike any other in Mennonite literature.
• Oba Jung, (“Oh, but son,”) you write good stories.
—Armin Wiebe, author of The Salvation of Yasch Siemens and Grandmother, and playwright of several productions, including The Recipe, Winnipeg, MB Laughing. http://www.arminwiebe.ca/
Donna Besel
Mitch’s debut collection of short stories, “Pinching Zwieback,” recently received a stellar review in the Winnipeg Free Press and has appeared several times on McNally Robinson Bookstore’s bestseller list for paperback fiction. His book plays homage to the 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. Like well-known Manitoba writer Miriam Toews, his writing often explores the clashes of their shared Mennonite background.
—Donna Besel, Lac du Bonnet, MB is a writer and educator, author of Lessons from a Nude Man, and The Unravelling.
Ralph Friesen
Mitch Toews speaks from the margins of small-town society, claiming a space for the underdog and the undervalued. His characters must go through all manner of tests and challenges, but in the end–love wins. Toews has that rare talent for touching your heart and being funny, too.
—Ralph Friesen of Victoria, BC, author of Between Earth & Sky: Steinbach’s First 50 Years Dad, God, and Me and, most recently, Prosperity Ever Depression Never: Steinbach in the 1930s” https://www.ralphfriesen.com/
Linda Rogers Van Krugel
[…] 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.
—Linda Rogers, Victoria, BC from her full review of the book. Canadian poet, author, thinker, feminist, and raconteur extraordinaire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda Rogers
Zilla Jones
Imbued with the turbulence of an ancestral river, the joy of a toboggan careening down an icy run, and the despair of dreams broken on a distant hockey rink, Mitchell Toews’ stories ask universal questions, about belonging, conforming and dissenting, all the while rooted in the snowdrifts and sun-drenched fields of a small prairie town. The answers emerge hot from the oven, fragrant like the zwieback buns of the title: we find ourselves in our family, and memories, and forgiveness, as familiar and soothing as the worn leather of a much-loved baseball glove.
“. . . ostensibly Mennonite, but the themes of conformity vs dissension, individual vs family, belonging vs alienation are universal.” (Facebook)
—Zilla Jones, Winnipeg, MB, Journey Prize winner and finalist in the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award https://www.transatlanticagency.com/2021/08/27/welcoming-zilla-jones-to-transatlantic/
Alanna Rusnak
Moves like a tide through visceral daily experiences—quintessentially Canadian, some heart wrenching, each powerfully evocative.
—Alanna Rusnak, Blank Spaces Magazine, Ontario https://www.chickenhousepress.ca/arp
Leslie Wakeman
His stories allow us to hold space for challenging our notions on life.
—Leslie Wakeman, writer and educator, Lac du Bonnet, Mb
Rachael Friesen
“I just finished reading the book and absolutely loved it. The snapshots from each character and how the stories flow from one generation to the next were fantastic. Diedrich and Matt were my favourite stories to follow, I cannot wait to purchase a copy for our branch!”
—Rachael Friesen, South Central Regional Library, Altona Branch Administrator
Sue Sorensen
In comments made during her hosting of the Nov 8 book launch event at McNally Robinson Booksellers, Wpg., MB: “. . . stories filled with life, filled with vitality. . . written by a storyteller.”
—Sue Sorensen, author, editor, and Associate Professor of English at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB.
Dianne Pearce
“If you enjoyed Mitch’s contribution, “Angel Delorme and the Craigflower Bus” in the Hawkshaw Press anthology, HARD-BOILED AND LOADED WITH SIN, then you’re going to love THIS book!”
—Dianne Pearce, MA, MFA, Publisher-Editor, Montclair, CA
Former South East Manitoba Residents
“You’ve created such a feel for that town (whether one has lived there or not), for the kinds of characters who live in these places. For me, personally, some of the events are deeply resonant. You’ve caught them well. The things young boys do, the way they think. You’ve caught it.”
—Anonymous Victoria Reader
[…] “I just had to write this instant cuz I just finished reading Willa Hund from your book. . . So funny and heartbreaking and alive!! I’m reading the whole book but that’s the one I just read now. . . ”
—Anonymous Toronto Reader
”IT’S ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!”
—Anonymous Toronto Reader’s Mom
“Even before I started with the stories, I read the “Wuatsiel…Glossary” at the back of your book. That itself is worth the price of the book. I was surprised how many of the words I knew by simply pronouncing them phonetically. Some things did survive my childhood. . .”
—Reader Eric Peters
“My favourite word: ‘rutsch‘ (p. 52). I know very little Low German, but that word was INSTANTLY recognizable . . . My favourite phrase (p. 140): ‘their visions so sympathetic, symphonic and kind.’ . . . such literary creativity (including some alliteration) and emotional openness and depth . . . My favourite paragraph (the final paragraph on p. 149): ‘I stood at the table, facing her. She tucked the phone under her chin and after listening for a few seconds gave me a comically enthusiastic two-thumbs-up salute and a smile as bright as a silver dollar. In that instant, looking at my mother’s often severe countenance and her small angular body, I felt safe and secure in her presence—no matter what threat might come. I saw her bravery and the utter dedication to her family, regardless of how she managed it and what people might think.'”
—Reader Gerald Loewen
Purchase from: At Bay Press McNally Robinson Booksellers Mennonite Heritage Village Museum Mennonite Heritage Museum CommonWord Misty River Books and every online seller from here to the banks of the Bazavluk and back.
“Pinching Zwieback:” Book, Author, Publication Details
Last UPDATE: Nov 4, 2023
Author Mitchell Toews
After eight years in creative writing, 120 prose pieces placed in periodicals and anthologies (and over 650 rejections 😊) Mitch is launching his first book, a collection of short fiction published by At Bay Press of Winnipeg.
So who is this guy, Mitchell Toews?
Mitchell James Toews is the great-great-grandson of Mennonite Delegate C.P. Toews from Molotschna, Russia; the grandson of C.F. (“Roy,” “Schusta”) and Rosa Toews of Steinbach; grandson also to former “Jantsieda” (residents from the “other side” of the Red River) Diedrich and Marie Harder of Steinbach; and son of the Steinbach Bakery family: Norman “Chuck” and Jessie Toews. He is married to Janice Kasper of Steinbach and they have two married daughters.
Among his stop-overs and occupations: a year (1973/74) at UVIC in Victoria, two years at U of W in Winnipeg and (much later) a Master’s Certificate in Marketing Communication from York U. Mitch founded—with his father and uncle Earl Taves—and operated a small overhead door manufacturing company. In 1996, the now solely-owned business, Hanover Doors, was sold by Janice and Mitch and Mitch’s advertising and marketing career began. In 2016 after time well-spent with companies like Smith, Neufeld, Jodoin Law (Steinbach), Loewen Windows (Steinbach), Yarrow Sash & Door (Winnipeg), and Lynden Door (Abbotsford), Mitch devoted himself entirely to creative writing—a lifelong and much-delayed passion.
Janice and Mitch live in their 1950 lakeside cabin at Jessica Lake in the Manitoba territory that is part of Treaty 1 & 3 land and home to the Métis Nation, just north of the Fiftieth Parallel in the Winnipeg River basin. Their daughters Megan and Tere live in British Columbia and trips to see the families, particularly grandkids Ty, Hazel, James, and Floyd are as frequent as circumstances permit.
Mitch is an avid windsurfer, rower, and cross-country skier and the lifelong rigours of climbing ladders and swinging hammers, along with baseball, volleyball, basketball, and golf all contributed in past days to the current sorry state of his joints.
Book Synopsis
Pinching Zwieback comprises stories that recount events and conflicts from the “Mennosphere”—inwardly oriented communities that can generate wonderful characters and practical, often beautiful, solutions to life’s confusion. Other times, a solution may be elusive.
Hartplatz is the imaginary home for many of the recurrent characters. (Also Winkler, Aldergrove or fictive places like them—a small town pastiche.) These are rural Canadian junctures where vectors intersect: faith and doubt; pacifism in a world at war; honour and temptation; fervour and absurdity; the temptations of the wide welt, and of course, humour. Often gritty, it’s K-mart fiction or maybe better yet: schmaundtfat fiction. (A Low German glossary is provided!)
“God causes it to rain on Chevs and Fords alike,” as Diedrich, the main character in three* of the 20 stories puts it. It’s in this context that the characters resist, pitting their will against that of their foe—the foe they seek to love.
*Other main characters include Matt Zehen, his mother and father, Hart and Justy Zehen, Matt’s grandmother Rosa, and Matt’s close friend, Lenny Gerbrandt. A family tree provides a guide to the cast for readers.
Where to Purchase Pinching Zwieback
“Pinching Zwieback: Made-up Stories from the Darp” 2023 ISBN 9781998779055 by Mitchell Toews (At Bay Press, Wpg). Publication Date October 24, Release Date November 7, Launch Date Nov 8. Contact us for assistance: check with Mitch or Matt on where to buy and also about how to receive signed copies or for information concerning special situations, author appearances, writing workshops, and more.
Requesting “Pinching Zwieback” by Mitchell Toews (At Bay Press, Wpg) at your favourite bookstore or library will get you a copy. Coming soon to libraries in Kenora, ON and Manitoba locations in Brandon, Lac du Bonnet, Pinawa, Altona, Winkler, and Morden. More to follow.
“Pinching Zwieback” 5″X8″257-page quality paperbacks may be purchased:
From At Bay Press: “Individual orders are placed through our website by adding books to your cart and then checking out with our secure online payment. Orders may also be placed over the phone by calling 204-489-6658 and payment will be taken over the phone. You may send an email with any questions or concerns to atbaypress@gmail.com.”
McNally Robinson Booksellers (Pre-order available) all locations.
The gift shops at both Mennonite Heritage Village (Steinbach) and Mennonite Heritage Museum (Abbotsford).
CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre in Winnipeg, MB
Misty River Books in Terrace, BC
Manitoba Made Events & Shop in Lac du Bonnet, MB
Shop in person: Canadian Bookstore Map
Virtually all ONLINE book sources WORLDWIDE including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Thriftbooks, etc.
Libraries and booksellers in Canada and the U.S. may purchase books from At Bay Press’s distribution partners:
Canada: http://www.litdistco.ca/
U.S.: https://www.casemateipm.com/9781998779055/pinching-zwieback/
Aus/NZ: https://peribo.com.au/
For other countries: Please see https://atbaypress.com/ordering or contact Matt Joudrey atbaypress@gmail.com
Events
https://mitchellaneous.com/2023/10/20/pinching-zwieback-events/
Coming Soon
A first REVIEW of “Pinching Zwieback” by the eminent Canadian author, Poet Laureate, and literary leader, Linda Rogers van Krugel of Victoria will be placed shortly. Several other reviews, from Canada and the U.S., are underway.
Early Praise
“Pinching Zwieback Observations” from Canadian literary notables Zilla Jones, Ralph Friesen, Alanna Rusnack, Armin Wiebe and more.
Follow Mitch & Pinching Zwieback
Follow Mitch’s FaceBook page and this blog (Mitchellaneous.com) for unboring updates, news, and other crumbs and chicken feed as “Pinching Zwieback” struts in wider and wider circles around the coop.
McNally Robinson Booksellers Launch of Pinching Zwieback
If you’re in Winnipeg on November 8…
.
Join Sue Sorensen, Ariel Gordon and myself for a bookish good time!
Reblog: I Used to be an Animal Lover
An INTERVIEW with contributor, Mitchell Toews.
Where did you hear about the I Used to be an Animal Lover anthology? What does the title mean to you?
I stumbled across D.A. Cairns’ anthology call on the internet and submitted my story “The Margin of the River” almost immediately, followed soon after by “I Am Otter.” I was intrigued by the anthology’s title, especially since it was a reprise of a book of his by the same name.
Three fun facts—in the writerly domain, related to the animal kingdom, or otherwise—about you?
1—When our kids were young, we owned (were owned by?) a gentle, runt-of-the-litter beagle the girls named “Knuckles.” One frigid Canadian winter, frustrated by Knuckles’ frequent requests for out-in-out, I rigged a backyard doghouse made of hay bales. The shelter was warmed by a 40-watt bulb coated with stove black. All systems were go until we received a late-night wake-up: It was Knuckles howling in joyous excitement as her hated winter exile went up in leaping, orange flames. A design flaw, or Knuckles the arsonist beagle? 2—I have built and lived in two geodesic domes, one at a water-access-only boreal forest location. 3—a favourite quote, “Forgive the weak for they are always fighting.” —Layne Coleman, from “Tony Nappo Ruined My Life” in “Carter V Cooper Short Fiction Anthology: Book Ten by Joyce Carol Oates”
Where can I buy your work and what’s the one piece that I ABSOLUTELY must read?
My forthcoming collection of short stories is probably the best I can offer. “Pinching Zwieback” (At Bay Press) will be out October 24, 2023, and news of the launch, readings, and so on will be announced on my social media links. (Ask for it at your library or local bookshop—and remember, it’s a small world.) https://atbaypress.com/books/creator/mitchell-toews
Bio
Mitchell Toews lives and writes lakeside in Manitoba. His work appears in print and online, in places near and far. He is working on a novel. A collection of short stories focused on a Russian Mennonite community in Western Canada, “Pinching Zwieback” will be launched in the fall of 2023 by Winnipeg’s At Bay Press. You may follow Mitch on the trails or out on the water or ice, or more conveniently at Mitchellaneous.com and https://www.facebook.com/mitch.toews/
“I come to fiction from the storyteller’s places: the campfire, the backseat on a long drive, the bar stool.” —MJT
Reblogged from Australian Author David A. Cairns and his blog: Square Pegs https://dacairns.com.au/blog
NOTE: PRE-ORDER LINKS for I Used to be an Animal Lover are here:
Amazon Kindle
everywhere else
Steinbach Then and Now
I was born in Steinbach, Manitoba and spent more than fifty years there, in a variety of roles. I’ve also lived in Victoria and Winnipeg, and in Chilliwack from 2007-2016. We’ve lived in the Whiteshell for the last seven years. My forthcoming collection of short stories, “Pinching Zwieback: Made-up Stories From the Darp” is drawn in part from my lived experiences in Steinbach. I also share local legends, and (with permission) the experiences of others. It’s fiction but the writing has its underpinnings in memoir and history.
Since 1955, the nature of the town has changed. Or so I’m told. When I try to reconcile the Steinbach I knew so well with the Steinbach that seems to be emerging now, I feel confused and see many conflicting signals about the true nature of the place. It’s complicated.
Steinbach was a remarkably homogenous place of between 3,000 and about 10,000 residents during my tenure. It was—especially in my childhood—a community in which I had deep roots and numerous connections. I was known to or related to almost everyone in town. I have many memories, fond and less so, that give me a broad base from which to examine my hometown. The Steinbach of today is demographically different than that old two-traffic-light prairie outpost where a locked door was as rare as a clegywoman.
Recent articles and op-eds suggest that “this is not your Grandfather’s Steinbach” and yet, I am skeptical. Partly because of what my gut tells me and partly because there’s a certain PR ring to the tone. (I should know, having spent a few years on the Chamber of Commerce, pounding the table with my out-sized Loewen Windows fist.) Certainly, there is still a strong Mennonite presence in “the Stein,” but has that cohort given up its control and sway? Has Steinbach managed to keep the good and discard the bad and the outdated? Good question. The city’s well-deserved and continued reputation for its people’s generosity, its shifting demographics and growing diversity, and a seemingly more vocal progressive sector, even among Mennonites, appear to suggest that the place is changing in a positive fashion.
The fact is, Jan and I no longer live in Steinbach and although we have plenty of family and friends in town and we are “home” quite often (funerals and family gatherings) we can’t really offer a current opinion. I have vivid memories of my 50+ years as a Steinbacher, but, “What’s it REALLY like now?” I ask myself. My recent reading of the book “Shelterbelts” by Jonathan Dyck (Conundrum Press) asks many questions that don’t sound too different from the ones I pose in my book, even though my stories are set mostly in the 50s, 60s, and 70s while “Shelterbelts” is more contemporary.
As I said, “it’s complicated.”
How to determine what the town’s true identity is now? Here’s the list I came up with. It’s a kind of “follow the money” equation. I reason that by identifying who holds the real power in the community, I can find the clearest indicator of how, how much, since when, and why Steinbach has changed, and in what ways. Are “the quiet in the land” really quiet in Steinbach?
- Banking & Finance. Which Steinbachers (or outsiders?) run the show? Who holds the purse strings? Who owns what? Who’s in the corner office? What’s the make-up and demographic profile of the most powerful C-suite officers?
- Industry & Commerce. What sectors drive the local economy? Who are the players? What is their background? Who are the employers and who are the employees?
- Education. Who builds the schools? Who controls the curriculum? Who hires the teachers? Who are the teachers?
- Local and Provincial governance. Who are the politicians and what is their political base? From where do they draw finances needed to run in elections? Who influences their policies? What are their social connections, affiliations, and stated beliefs and values?
- Media. What are the major sources of local news and information? Who owns these outlets? What are their political affiliations? Who are the influencers?
- Clergy and Religion. What are the demographics of church membership? Which of the above categories are populated by which churches? Are there interlocking directorates? Does one church, or perhaps a few churches, dominate the gross membership? Who controls the levers of power or are the pivotal positions in the overall Steinbach power structure shared equally among the church-going populations? Are secular residents represented fairly in the power structure? Are imported theological movements usurping the influence once held by historically familiar churches? (Congregations like the Kleine Gemeinde so eloquently described by Steinbach ex-pat Ralph Friesen in his memoir, “Dad, God, and Me” (Friesen Press))
- Populism vs. Progressiveism. Is there a way to plot sensibility? What public activities, events, movements, clubs, social groups, and other tell-tales exist that we can use to gauge public opinion? What/who are the loudest voices? Are non-dominant or historically marginalized groups equally represented? (And is anyone tracking it?)
And LAST, what do the artists say? Any society that ignores its poets, does so at its peril. Artists tend to support the underdog, to speak out for equality, to express themselves in a manner that challenges—or properly acknowledges—power brokers. Sometimes with sharp observations, in other cases with subtlety that may be equally profound. What has changed since the art of past commentators put a pin on the graph at various times? How fundamentally different, for instance, are the fictional depictions of “The Shunning” (1980, Friesen), “A Year of Lesser” (1996, Bergen), “A Complicated Kindness” (2004, Toews), “Once Removed” (2020, Unger), and “Shelterbelts” (2022, Dyck)? What is the arc of Steinbach’s essence, in fiction?
Exile on Barkman Avenue
After Janice and I sold our manufacturing business in 1996, I ended up (after being a very bad office manager for some very good lawyers) working for a series of conservative Mennonite wood manufacturing companies as “that creative guy.” My role was to do the unseemly work of marketing and advertising. Come up with some shit. You know… imagineer. (Aiyyyeee! That word is like giving an AMC Gremlin to the head designer at Ferrari.)
Before I go on, let’s check the relative humidity here. As a “creative guy,” I’m somewhere on a scale. I am not likely to be named Artistic Director for Exile magazine; not likely to die my hair blue (both of them); not likely to get in a scrap with David Cronenberg because my ideas are, “too out there, Toews!” At the same time, my ideas were more than enough “out there” to send the sucking-up-to-the-boss running dog types scooting like scalded greyhounds for the dark corners of the break room, where they would loudly rattle their dog-collars and profess to be regular folks incapable of such wild ideas.
Anyway, today I find myself somewhere between my old scramble for existence (marketing and advertising) and my new scramble for existence (literary fiction). And no, dog-collar people, the two are NOT the same.
I am working diligently to complete my manuscript and set my collection of short stories loose on the world. There is a hurry-up-and-wait aspect to this and during the in-between times, I get restless. Something that occurred to me in a slightly Cronenbergian moment was a set of icons that offered a graphical depiction of the themes present in my made-up stories. I used my prodigious Paint.net skills to render a 4X4 grid of images.
The result is the orderly graphic collage that headlines this post. The effect appeals to my Andy Warhol gene and I like how the iconography drops hints like a visual Johnny Appleseed. I have not spent time getting the size and hue and style at a harmonic pitch, but it’s good enough for a concept. It imagineers. (Ugh.)
And that’s where I find myself—wallowing like a hungry Menno in the nether region between artistic expression and INTEGRATED MARKETING. My old prof at York (the Pepsi-Challenge guy, Alan Middleton) would be pleased but I’m pretty sure my publisher will heave a big sigh.
Anyway, that’s my sitch. I am (just barely) smart enough to listen to my publisher and ignore my fond memories of Prof. Emeritus Middleton’s old lessons (“Put lye in the Coke…” JUST KIDDING!)
But you know that inside my busy little blue head, there is a steeplechase going on with wild ideas running around like crazed dogs.
- Bookmarks
- Mousepads
- Coasters
- Product placement in Mennonite movies
- T-shirts
- Posters of dangling kittens wearing the T-shirts (it can’t be ALL about dogs!)
- Fridge magnets of Menno Simons wearing one of the T-shirts (it can’t be ALL about David Cronenberg!)
So, be ready to buy the book. First 100 purchasers get a free TRAVEL MUG.*
___
*Also just kidding. Shipping extra.
My collection of short stories, “Pinching Zwieback” (At Bay Press) will launch in FALL 2023.
Mitchell Toews 