Prairie Writers
A selection of recent books by writers from the Canadian Prairies.
Bounty
- Jason Pchajek 
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Nikos Wulf is at the top of his game. Within the sublevels of 2120 Winnipeg, he is the undisputed king of bounty hunters, working for the elite Bounty Commission Eco-Terror Taskforce. The job: maintain the delicate ecological balance in a city holding back climate collapse. But when a series of bounties go wrong, Nikos finds himself on the trail of a troubling new player among the city's anti-establishment. Bound to a sense of duty to the city that made him, Nikos finds himself in a deadly game of catch-up with an insidious enemy bent on bringing down everything he's fought so hard to protect.
Twistical Nature of Spoons, The
- Patti Grayson
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Blisse has guarded the family secret for her entire childhood. No one can know the origin of her unconventional birthday gifts Her mother, Ina, has insisted that Blisse never tell a soul - believing it's the only way to keep her daughter safe from a dire fate. Together, mother and daughter must sift through their own versions of events to understand how the secret has led to the unravelling of their lives. Chock-full of masks and curses, art and magic, seduction and spoons, their stories are both fraught with misdirection and awash in whimsy. Can their revelations negate a tragic prediction? Or is the dissolution of love and family inevitable?
Away from the Dead
- David Bergen
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Longlisted, Scotiabank Giller Prize
Violence is the domain of both the rich and poor. Or so it seems in early 20th-century Ukraine during the tumult of the Russian Revolution.
As anarchists, Bolsheviks, and the White Army all come and go, each claiming freedom and justice, David Bergen embeds his readers into the lives of characters connected through love, family, and loyalty. Lehn, a bookseller south of Kiev, deserts the army and writes poetry to his love back home; Sablin, an adopted Mennonite-Ukrainian stableboy, runs with the anarchists only to discover that love and the planting of crops is preferable to killing; Inna, a beautiful young peasant, tries to stop a Mennonite landowner from stealing her child. In a world of violence, Sablin, Lehn, and Inna learn to love and hate and love again, hoping, against all odds, that one can turn away from the dead.
In this beautifully crafted novel, David Bergen takes us to a place where chaos reigns, where answers come from everywhere and nowhere, and where both the beauty and horror of humanity are on full display.
The Circle
- katherena vermette
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*INSTANT TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER*
"The Circle is a polyphonic masterpiece." --Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse
From the award-winning and #1 bestselling author of The Break and The Strangers comes a poignant and unwavering epic told from a constellation of Métis voices that consider the fallout when the person who connects them all goes missing
The concept was simple. You sit a bunch of people in a circle--everyone who hurt, everyone who got hurt, all affected--and let them share. Some people, it helped them heal, for sure. Others went in angry and left a different kind of angry. Learned how the blame belonged on the system, the history, the colonizer, the big things that were harder to change than one bad person.
The day that Cedar Sage Stranger has been both dreading and longing for has finally come: her sister Phoenix is getting out of prison.
The effect of Phoenix's release cascades through the community. M, the young girl whom she assaulted, is triggered by the news. Her mother, Paulina, is worried and her cousin is angry--all feel the threat of Phoenix's release. When Phoenix is seen lingering outside the school to catch a glimpse of her son, Sparrow, the police get a call to file a report--but the next thing they know, she has disappeared.
Amid accusations and plots for revenge, past grievances become a poor guide in a moment of danger, and the clumsy armature of law enforcement is no match for the community. Cedar and her and Phoenix's mother, Elsie, continue down different paths of healing, while everyone in their lives form a circle around the chaos, the calm within the storm, and the beauty in the darkness.
Fierce, heartbreaking, and profound, Vermette's The Circle is the third and final companion novel to her bestsellers The Break and The Strangers. Told from various perspectives, with an unforgettable voice for each chapter, the novel is masterfully structured as a Restorative Justice Circle where all gather--both the victimized and the accused--to take account of a crime that has altered the course of their lives. It considers what it means to be abandoned by the very systems that claim to offer support, how it feels to gain a sense of belonging, and the unanticipated cost of protecting those you love most.
Wild Hope
- Joan Thomas
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From the Governor General's Award-winning author of Five Wives, a thrilling contemporary novel about how the past never lets us go
Isla and Jake are a couple drifting apart. She is a chef and co-owner of a farm-to-table restaurant on the brink of closing; he is a visual artist tormented by the oil-and-gas legacy of his late father. A looming figure in both their lives is Reg Bevaqua, Jake's childhood friend-turned-enemy, turned bottled-water baron.
Reg is a demanding regular at Isla's restaurant and a man with a seething resentment toward Jake. With good reason, the feeling is mutual, but Jake keeps their past from Isla as he follows a devastating trail to the source of Reg's wealth. When Jake disappears following a winter camping trip, Isla starts to connect the dots, with all roads leading to Reg and his magnificent property on Georgian Bay.
Seamlessly weaving together observations on the entitlements of the wealthy, the monetization of water and the politics of art, Joan Thomas has created a layered, page-turning read about how far we will go to hold on to power and what we will do to avenge old wounds.
Property Wrongs
- Doug Smith
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Until 1969, the City of Winnipeg had undertaken only two public housing projects even though the failure of the market to provide adequate housing for low-income Winnipeggers had been apparent since the beginning of the century. By 1919, providing housing was a significant issue in municipal politics that was embraced by civic officials, professionals, reformers, labour leaders and social democratic politicians. It also became a proxy issue for refighting the 1919 General Strike at city hall. However, Winnipeg's business community proved effective opponents of public housing.
The struggle for public housing was also a struggle for democracy. Up until the 1960s, public housing required approval by a referendum in which only the city's property owners could vote. This rule deprived close to half the city's voters -- and virtually everyone who might qualify to live in public housing -- of the right to vote. Over decades that barrier to democracy was whittled away. An NDP provincial government elected in 1969 added 11,144 units of public housing to the existing 568 units.
Today public housing is once more under attack. Rather being treated as valued public assets, they are considered embarrassing encumberments that should be sold as part of a process of turning public housing over to the private sector. The struggle to protect and expand the provision of non-profit housing is undermined by the rupture in political memory of the long struggle to build public housing and the current political situation.
Hold Your Tongue
- Matthew Ttreault
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Upon learning his great-uncle Alfred has suffered a stroke, Richard sets out for Ste. Anne, in southeastern Manitoba, to find his father and tell him the news. Waylaid by memories of his stalled romance, tales of run-ins with local Mennonites, his job working a honey wagon, and struck by visions of Métis history and secrets of his family's past, Richard confronts his desires to leave town, even as he learns to embrace his heritage.
Evoking an oral storytelling epic that weaves together one family's complex history, Hold Your Tongueasks what it means to be Métis and francophone. Recalling the work of Katherena Vermette and Joshua Whitehead, Matthew Tétreault's debut novel shines with a poignant, but playful character-driven meditation on the struggles of holding onto "la langue," and marks the emergence of an important new voice.
The Garden of Lost Secrets
- Kelly Bowen
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Two sisters discover the fairy tales written by their great-grandmother during WWII in this riveting tale of one woman's secrets lost in the chaos of war--perfect for fans of Julia Kelly and Natasha Lester.
1940 - Stasia always found comfort in the idyllic French countryside where she spent her childhood summers, roaming the gardens of an old chateau and finding inspiration for fairy tales full of bravery and adventure. But these days are much darker, and with Nazis storming across Europe, she soon finds herself one of the most hunted agents of the Resistance. The only safe haven she can think of is Chateau de Montissaire. But she's about to discover that it just may be the center of her biggest mission yet.
Present day - When Isabelle purchases a crumbling chateau in Rouen, it's not just a renovation project--it's a chance to reconnect with her sister, Emilie, the only family she has left. What she uncovers instead is an intriguing mystery... As the siblings piece together the incredible truth behind the books written by their great-grandmother Stasia, they discover an exciting story of courage in the face of treachery and an explosive secret that will change everything they believed about their family.
Who Has Seen the Wind
- W O Mitchell , William Kurelek ,
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Illustrated Edition
A gorgeous new illustrated edition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of this seminal Canadian classic.Since its publication in 1947, Who Has Seen the Wind -- a classic tale about a boy growing up on the Saskatchewan prairie -- has been read and loved by millions. With his unique blend of poetry and humour, W.O. Mitchell perfectly captures childhood and small-town life. Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters -- young Brian O'Connal and his family, including his fiery-tongued Uncle Sean and his formidable Scotch grandmother, and the colourful inhabitants of their prairie community -- it is not only the story of one boy, but an ageless story of growing up and the search for meaning. This new edition commemorates the 75th anniversary of the book's publication, bringing together the complete and unabridged version of the text with 8 full-colour paintings and 32 black-and-white illustrations by renowned artist William Kurelek. It also includes a new foreword from W.O. Mitchell's friend, the acclaimed novelist Frances Itani, as well as new essays about the book's storied history and legacy. Admirers of W.O. Mitchell will cherish this edition, and a new generation of readers will discover this brilliant, timeless novel for the first time.
The Russian Daughter
- Sarah Klassen
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With the Czarist empire in turmoil, a young Mennonite couple in what is now Ukraine adopt a Russian baby. This historical novel explores themes of belonging, responsibility, and the places we call home.
When the Sky Comes Looking For You
- Chadwick Ginther
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Come along for another trip down Thunder Road. Since Ted Callan's fateful encounter with a roomful of Dwarves his world has exploded with Gods and monsters, Giants, Witches, and more.
When the Sky Comes Looking for You expands upon the Thunder Road trilogy with a series of short stories, both loved and brand new, from acclaimed author Chadwick Ginther.
Sweetest Dance On Earth, The
- Di Brandt
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Since her debut in 1987 with questions I asked my mother, Di Brandt has remained curious, still asking questions and pushing poetic bounds. Now for the first time, the best work of this Griffin Award winning poet has been gathered together in one place. Distilled into one collection is Di Brandt's insatiable desire to understand, question and show the world in a new light. From her feminist work to her eco poetics, readers will get a chance to see the breathtaking career of one of Canada's most influential poets.
Probably Ruby
- Lisa Bird-Wilson
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A CBC BEST CANADIAN FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
Probably Ruby is an audacious, brave, and beautiful book about an adopted woman's search for her Indigenous identity, for readers of Tommy Orange's There There and Terese Marie Mailhot's Heart Berries.
Relinquished as an infant, Ruby is placed in a foster home and finally adopted by Alice and Mel, a less-than-desirable couple who can't afford to complain too loudly about Ruby's Indigenous roots. But when her new parents' marriage falls apart, Ruby finds herself vulnerable and in compromising situations that lead her to search, in the unlikeliest of places, for her Indigenous identity.
Unabashedly self-destructing on alcohol, drugs, and bad relationships, Ruby grapples with the meaning of the legacy left to her. In a series of expanding narratives, Ruby and the people connected to her tell their stories and help flesh out Ruby's history. Seeking understanding of how we come to know who we are, Probably Ruby explores how we find and invent ourselves in ways as peculiar and varied as the experiences of Indigenous adoptees themselves. Ruby's voice, her devastating honesty and tremendous laugh, will not soon be forgotten.
Probably Ruby is a perfectly crafted novel, with effortless, nearly imperceptible shifts in time and perspective, exquisitely chosen detail, natural dialogue and emotional control that results in breathtaking levels of tension and points of revelation.
The Theory of Crows
- David A Robertson
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A poignant and evocative novel about the bonds of family and the gifts offered by the land
When a troubled father and his estranged teenage daughter head out onto the land in search of the family trapline, they find their way back to themselves, and to each other
Deep in the night, Matthew paces the house, unable to rest. Though his sixteen-year-old daughter, Holly, lies sleeping on the other side of the bedroom door, she is light years away from him. How can he bridge the gap between them when he can't shake the emptiness he feels inside? Holly knows her father is drifting further from her; what she doesn't understand is why. Could it be her fault that he seems intent on throwing everything away, including their relationship?
Following a devastating tragedy, Matthew and Holly head out onto the land in search of a long-lost cabin on the family trapline, miles from the Cree community they once called home. But each of them is searching for something more than a place. Matthew hopes to reconnect with the father he has just lost; Holly goes with him because she knows the father she is afraid of losing won't be able to walk away.
When things go wrong during the journey, they find they have only each other to turn to for support. What happens to father and daughter on the land will test them, and eventually heal them, in ways they never thought possible.
The Strangers
- katherena vermette
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#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR FICTION * NAMED #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR BY INDIGO * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 MANITOBA BOOK AWARDS' CAROL SHIELDS WINNIPEG BOOK AWARD, MARGARET LAURENCE AWARD FOR FICTION, AND MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD * LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE * A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BOOK
The Strangers, a staggering intergenerational saga from from the bestselling author of The Break, explores how connected we are, even when we're no longer together--even when we're forced apart.
Cedar has nearly forgotten what her family looks like. Phoenix has nearly forgotten what freedom feels like. And Elsie has nearly given up hope. Nearly.
After time spent in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Although she grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and sister, Phoenix, she's hoping for a new chapter in her life, only to find herself once again in a strange house surrounded by strangers. From a youth detention centre, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she'll never get to raise and tries to forgive herself for all the harm she's caused. Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and strives to be someone they can depend on. These are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they'll ever emerge safely on the other side.
A breathtaking companion to vermette's bestselling debut The Break, The Strangers brings readers into the dynamic world of the Stranger family, the strength of their bond, the shared pain in their past, and the light that beckons from the horizon. This is a searing exploration of race, class, inherited trauma, and matrilineal bonds that refuse to be broken.
This is a selection of our current Prairie Writers titles. To find other titles or authors, or just to browse, please use the search box.
