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.

L. V. Gaudet

L.V. Gaudet

Lori Gaudet is a Canadian author of dark fiction and member of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild since 1993 and Horror Writers Association since 2018. She volunteers with the MWG as the social media person, newsletter editor, and as a member of the Marketing, Communication, and Membership committee since July 2019. … Read more

Larry Verstraete

Writer and educator Larry Verstraete lives in Winnipeg. An author mainly of non-fiction books for young people, Larry began writing for youngsters while still teaching, drawing upon two strong interests for inspiration – science and true adventure. Those elements can be seen, something together, in the subjects Larry explores in … Read more

Louella Lester

Louella Lester is a writer (micro-fiction, flash fiction, CNF, poetry) and photographer in Winnipeg, Canada. Her work has appeared in a variety of literary journals, magazines, and anthologies (see her website for a list of her recent publications). In 2021, her writing was nominated for a Pushcart and for Best Microfiction.

 

Her CNF book, Glass Bricks, a quirky look at work ethic and all the jobs she’s had, written in flash/microfiction, was published by At Bay Press in 2021.

Website – Through Camera & Pen – https://louellalester.blog

Instagram & Facebook – louellalester

IG & FB – @louellalester

MaryLou Driedger

MaryLou Driedger works as a facilitator for school programs at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and as a student supervisor for the education department at the University of Winnipeg. She has been a weekly columnist for The Carillon, a regional Manitoba newspaper since 1985. She wrote a regular column for the … Read more

Maureen Fergus

Maureen Fergus is an award-winning author of books for kids of all ages. Her books have been translated into almost a dozen languages, optioned for television and shortlisted for such prestigious awards as the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book … Read more

Melva McLean

Melva’s screenplays have won awards at international festivals, including Action on Film, Austin, Indie Gathering, the International Family Film Festival, Moondance, and SFU’s Praxis. Her period romance, Nylon Days, made the quarterfinals of the 2014 Nicholl Fellowships (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).   Melva was also a recipient … Read more

Mitchell Toews

Mitchell Toews lives and writes lakeside. When an insufficient number of, “We are pleased to inform you…” emails are on hand, he finds alternative joy in the windy intermingling between the top of the water and the bottom of the sky or skates on the ice until he can no … Read more

Nancy Chislett

Nancy Chislett is an avid traveler, having visited almost 50 countries on six continents. She also plays classical music on piano and composes a little jazz. Career-wise, she has worked as a high school teacher and as a university administrator of an international student program. Bombing the Moon is her debut novel. Currently, she is working on her second novel. She lives in the eclectic city of Winnipeg with her partner, Grant, and dog, Simon.

About Bombing the Moon:

Release Date – April 22nd, 2022

McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Avenue, 7 pm

At 24, Devin Rush’s future is unknown and his parents don’t support his dream of becoming a songwriter. Add to that North Korea’s nuclear threats, a corporate world of greed, and impending automation, Devin feels like the world is rigged against him.

Conflict boils at home. Devin is jobless and antagonistic. His parents, wondering if he’ll never man-up, fear he’ll depend on them for life. But when Devin’s grandfather gives him a one-way ticket to Nairobi, Kenya, Devin believes it’s his family that wants him gone. Outraged and seeing no alternative, he leaves, and is thrust into a world unlike any he’s ever seen.

Stunned by his sudden departure, Devin’s parents and sister are pushed further afield of the control they crave. Resentment and guilt nudge his parent’s marriage closer to collapse, and abandonment triggers his sister’s long-buried shame. When Nairobi’s election approaches and tensions erupt, Devin is faced with choices and consequences that are all too real. Bombing the Moon is a roller coaster ride that explores the promises and limitations of tough love.

Rae St. Claire Bridgman

Rae St. Clair Bridgman is an award-winning Winnipeg author and illustrator of children’s books, including the acclaimed MiddleGate Books. She has a knack for finding the magical and extraordinary in the ordinary, in between the cracks of reality. Rae is a university professor, anthropologist, urban planner, co-director of an architectural design firm, mother of six. Favourite things to do in her spare time: watching ants, chasing crayfish, reading the dictionary, playing tuba, watching clouds, and inventing toys. Favourite sayings: “Often, secrets do not remain secrets for long.” “Things that disappear by themselves can come back by themselves.” “Problems can multiply like flies.” “The story certainly changes depending on the storyteller.”

Finalist, McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award; Honourable Mention, Speculative Literature Foundation;
Nominated for Cybils Award, Fantasy and Science Fiction; Winner of a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award (Bronze Medal, Pre-Teen Fiction – Fantasy)

Raye Anderson

Raye Anderson is a Scots Canadian who taught Drama and ran Theatre and Community arts programs for many years, notably at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, in Ottawa and Calgary.
Raye has been a resident of the Interlake since 2007. Her first crime fiction novel, And We Shall Have Snow, was published by Signature Editions in 2020. It was a finalist for Best First Novel for the Crime Writers of Canada, Awards of Excellence and was also shortlisted in the Original Softcover Fiction category of the WILLA Literary Awards. It is set in winter, in the Interlake.

The second book in the series, which features Sergeant Roxanne Calloway of the RCMP, occurs mostly in Winnipeg, in a fictional theatre company. Titled And Then Is Heard No More, it was published in 2021, and was the Winnipeg Free Press/McNally Robinson Book Club pick for July/August of this year.

Raye returned to the Interlake as the setting for her third book, Down Came The Rain, published by Signature Editions in 2022. She has recently moved to Gimli, where she is working on a fourth novel.

Financial assistance provided by the Manitoba Arts Council

Manitoba Arts Council logo