Members

Find members alphabetically by first name with the menu above.

To update your profile, or have one setup, contact MWGMembership@gmail.com!

Donna Besel

Donna Besel grew up in Whiteshell Provincial Park, and now lives on the Winnipeg River near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. Her writing has appeared in various publications and accumulated honours such as second place in Prairie Fire’s writing contest, shortlist in CBC’s Literary Awards, finalist in CBC’s “Canada Writes” and … Read more

Fisher Lavell

Fisher Lavell is a working-class writer. Born to generations of rural poor, she was blessed with a trove of untamed stories and the stubborn will to tell them. She is the author of A Seven Year Ache, published in 2022 by Friesen Press, the first in a series of three Roaring River Woman novels.

 

Fisher was raised n the outskirts of Swan River, Manitoba, in a one-room shack and neither of her parents had ever finished grade five. But bright in school, she eventually landed an education and professional training far beyond her family’s wildest imaginings. With a Master of Education degree and a Post-Masters in Counselling Psychology, she is a nationally certified psychotherapist with several professional publications.

Still, her great love is fiction. And her stories are always true to working-class characters, their lives, and their voices. On her Working Words Blog at fisherlavell.ca/fishers-blog she regularly shares her thoughts on working-class writing, as well as book and film critiques, true oral stories, and musings on the meaning of dogs in her life and country music influences in her writing.

With two large dogs, Fisher Lavell lives again in her home town in the house her father built with his own hands. She can often be seen at a distance, a row of blue hills on the horizon, walking the gravel roads and endless green fields of the Swan River Valley.

 

Gabriele Goldstone

Gabe‘s fascinated with the past, with mystery, and with the ordinary. She does a lot of walking- both as a letter carrier, and for fun, with the family dog. Her favourite quote: “Sometimes if there’s a book you really want to read, you have to write it yourself.” 
– Ann … Read more

Garfield McRae

Born August 18, 1938 in Clearwater, Manitoba, the son of Philip McRae and Ruby Elsie Aurelia Rogers.  Raised in Winnipeg, Makaroff, Manitoba and Portage la Prairie. Writing genre: Fiction/Non-fiction Published work includes: Fiction: Miriam (short story)  (The Western Producer)  (1970) A Summer’s Ending (short story)  The Western Producer  (1974) Milly, … Read more

Gaylene Dutchyshen Interview

Last fall, the Manitoba Writers’ Guild held a writing contest with the theme of Halloween. Our winner was Gaylene Dutchyshen. Her bio and winning story were featured in one of our recent newsletters. She will be our guest at next month’s Book Chat, March 10, 2021 at 7 pm, if you would like to hear her read her from her work. Email the Guild (manitobawritersguild3@gmail.com) to receive the Zoom instructions.

In addition to publishing her story and bio, we arranged for her to be interviewed by Danielle Somack. Here is an introduction to Danielle,  Gaylene and their interview:

My name is Danielle Somack and I’m an emerging writer and high school student residing in rural Manitoba. As a mentee of Creative Manitoba’s 2020-21 Rural Youth Mentorship program, I started to explore writing from different angles and perspectives. My mentor, Anita Daher, has given me the opportunity to meet many amazing and talented local authors at the monthly Book Jam we cohost together on Zoom. I am very keen on expanding my skills and learning about other writer’s creative pursuits and the stories that move them, whether through a conversation or by interviewing Manitoba authors with the Manitoba Writers’ Guild.
– Danielle

Gaylene Dutchyshen loves a good mystery. Born in Dauphin and raised in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, Gaylene takes inspiration from the solitude of the prairies and her fascination with the inner workings of the mind to create compelling characters with hidden pasts and family secrets.

Before publishing her first novel, A Strange Kind of Comfort, in 2020, Gaylene had written a short story for a University of Manitoba creative writing course in 2008, titled Dream Job, a haunting, gothic tale that recently won her first place in the Manitoba Writer’s Guild Halloween Short Story Contest.

 

Danielle Somack: What do you want readers to take away from Dream Job?

Gaylene Dutchyshen: I wanted to portray the power of the mind and show how what we think/feel/experience during the day is expressed in our dreams. The two main characters are drawn to each other by a mutual experience, night terrors, and I wanted the reader to identify and sympathize with each of them. Cate’s mother is aloof and Jamie senses that Cate is neglected. Jamie’s father is judgmental and Jamie’s night terrors recur when she is stressed. Sam Talbot is a “villain” only in Jamie’s and Cate’s imaginations, yet they are compelled to silence him. I wanted to create a sense of danger in a place where patients should feel protected and safe. In protecting Cate from a perceived danger, Jamie acts on her unconscious fears with unintended consequences for Sam. Instead of a vampire (supernatural) or serial killer, I wanted to create unease in my readers by fashioning killers that would be perceived as harmless. If a reader is left unsettled by the end of the story, then I achieved what I set out to do.

DS: What is the inspiration behind your story?

GD: I actually wrote the story in 2008 when I was taking an Advanced Creative writing course at the U of M. At the start of the first semester, we were writing our short stories anonymously so, to disguise myself, I wrote each story in a different voice/genre. Dream Job was my horror/gothic tale. A few weeks before I wrote this story, I had a sleep study at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, and it struck me as a creepy experience. I arrived after dark, parked in a nearly empty parking garage. It was quiet and nearly deserted on the floor where I was hooked up with cords. I knew I would be watched and monitored as I slept. It made me wonder about the sleep technician and her job and what she thought about all night as she watches people sleep. She’s always on a night shift, having to stay mostly silent while she works, with very little interaction with the sleep study patients or her co-workers. The patients are completely vulnerable. It seemed a good premise and setting for a spooky story.

DS: You mentioned in your bio that you’re a bit of a bookworm. What do you look for in a good book?

GD: I like books about families and secrets; which is why I write such novels myself. I like knowing what makes a character “tick”, so I tend to like stories where the main character’s childhood is revealed, and we learn what shaped them. Characters must be compelling and multi-faceted. I also prefer books where I “see” physical details. A truly beautiful description or metaphor always pulls me into the author’s world. Suspense keeps me turning the pages, even if it’s a novel about ordinary people in everyday situations.

DS: You also mentioned that you love to travel with your husband Wayne (in non-COVID times). How have these travels influenced your writing?

GD: So far, I’ve been drawn to write about the Manitoba rural community. It is the prairies and the people who populate small rural towns that I know best. Travel does broaden one’s perspective, though. Seeing other cultures and different styles of living expands the mind and creates curiosity about and empathy for others, which is important for a writer. I’d like to include a European destination in my writing one day.

DS: When you’re not writing, what do you spend your time doing?

GD: I am still actively involved in our farm operation, so I’m busier in the spring, summer and autumn. I am the farm accountant and operate a combine during the harvest season. Besides traveling, I love gardening and have designed two beautiful flower gardens with ponds and waterfalls on the properties where we’ve lived. I’m a visual person, which is reflected in my writing, and it’s my passion to create beauty in my surroundings. I like biking and we enjoyed exploring more of Manitoba this summer. Like every grandmother, I cherish time with our grandchildren. Our 8- and 10-year old grandkids and I had a blast making a movie—Covid Catastrophe starring Superkids vs the Coronavirus—this spring when school was out (they wrote the script, found the costumes, designed the credits, etc) so creative activities are also on the list of things to do at our house.

Thanks to both Danielle and Gaylene for their insight into a writer’s life. There is still time to send in submissions to our Bloody Valentine writing contest (deadline: February 19th, 2021). Check out our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/manitobawritersguild) for details.

 

Glenda Walker-Hobbs

I’m a writer from north central Manitoba. While I do mainly poetry, I also do meditations, short pieces and have a novel in progress. I am secretary of our local writers group. I also help facilitate an online poetry group as well as c-facilitate a poetry course. I have published … Read more

Harvey Jenkins

Harvey Jenkins is a graduate of both the University of Manitoba and the University of Victoria. He currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Harvey completed the 800 km Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage in 2010 and published, Haiku Moments on the Camino: France to Finisterre. Over the years, Harvey has had both haiku and … Read more

HAZEL BIRT

Hazel Birt is a long time member of MWG. She has written several books and numerous articles based on her Finnish heritage illustrated with her award winning woodcut prints.

Jenny Gates

jenny gates head shot

As a professional writer and editor in Australia, I co-authored several scientific catalogues and was editor of international scientific publications. Since arriving in Winnipeg, I’ve mostly worked as a substantive book editor, and I also write screenplays, stage plays, books, poetry, speeches and stories. Other interests include photography, music, reading, walking, and coffee with friends.

Contact info:

Summary of Publications

  • Co-author of Zoological Catalogues of Fishes (3 vols) and Echinodermata (1 vol)
  • Ghostwriter for “Crushed Ice” by Bud Ulrich
  • Editor of 28 published fiction and non-fiction books and manuals

Award Nominations

Three of my authors have been publicly honoured for their books:

  • “Winnie The Bear” by M. A. Appleby won the Gold Medal for Best Regional Non-Fiction at the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2012
  • “Harley’s Bootstraps” by Lois Henderson was a finalist for the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award in 2021
  • “Welcome to California” by Sandra L. A. Boszko has been a finalist and winner of several honours at multiple indie book awards

Joanne Epp

I’m a writer of poetry and non-fiction. My work has appeared in Canadian literary magazines, and most recently in the anthology Tongue Screws and Testimonies: Poems, Stories and Essays Inspired by the Martyrs Mirror. You can read my blog at http://joanneepp.com.

Joseph Mackintosh

I spent most of my career teaching Economics in the Business faculty at Red River College. That’s where I joined with several colleagues to write an Economics Workbook, my first foray into the world of publishing. Through Prentice-Hall, our book was successfully distributed to colleges across Canada. I loved the writing and figured there were possibilities on the horizon for other stories.

My hobby and experience as a professional musician led to the first possibility. I had tape-recorded (yes, it was that long ago) several hours of conversations with old-time fiddler Andy Dejarlis in the 1970s. The tapes sat idling long after Andy’s passing until it dawned on me that here was a chance to put the story on paper. It resulted in my first biography – Andy DeJarlis, the life and music of an old-time fiddler – published by Great Plains Publications in 2010. I followed that with a story on local runner Chris McCubbins: Pan-Am Games gold medalist in the Steeplechase; Olympic competitor in the 10,000 metres; member of the elite US Army Pentathlon Team; University of Manitoba track coach; teacher; and former brother-in-law. The book – Chris McCubbins, Running the Distance – was published by J Gordon Shillingford Publishing in 2013.

My third book – Briar Cottage, My summers in a Town called Gimli – is due on the shelves in May 2022. It’s my story as a youngster spending summers at our cottage in Gimli, Manitoba published through Friesen Press.

The story is a memoir. It’s a slice of history—the story of Gimli, Manitoba—come to life.

There’s the mystique of rail travel; there’s rafting on the pond; there’s swimming at the harbour. There’s dancing to the Men of Note. There are bonfires and bull rushes and bicycling the town; the tastes of Central Bakery; the fun of pinball at Sam’s Café; and the vibes of the Falcon. This book is about adventures that define summer life in Gimli for a city lad. In addition, there’s the story of family and their struggles in the 1930s against a backdrop of happier times at the cottage.

It’s a story that will bring back memories of life in Gimli especially for those who have summered in the town or along the west-shore beaches of Lake Winnipeg.