35 Interviews with Mennonite Writers

One of the first ideas Andrew had when we started Mennotoba was to include a “5 Questions” section. I think he saw a similar short interview format in a music magazine and thought it would be a good fit for Mennotoba. While this may not be the most extensive or in-depth interview format, we think it does offer a glimpse of people as people. We never edit the answers, except for typos, so folks can present themselves however they see fit. I think this is an interesting contrast to the professional journalistic approach of picking and choosing quotes and trying to fit an angle. We also tell interviewees that their answers can be as long or short, funny or serious as they choose, and we really do see quite the variety.

We’ve always had a rather loose definition of who might qualify as a good “Mennotoba” subject. Some connection to Manitoba and some connection to Mennonites. I was going through some of the older interviews and saw that we had amassed quite a collection, particularly of Mennonite writers. It’s a vertiable who’s who of MennoLit (with some notable gaps, of course). There are a few notable names we’re missing, of course … but that’s mostly because we don’t have contact information for a few folks we’d love to interview.

So today I thought I’d provide an index of our interviews with writers. I hope you enjoy revisiting these interviews. I know I did. (Click on links below to revisit these fascinating interviews!)

“Everything Happens for a Reason” author Kate Bowler

Winnipeg Poet Laureate Di Brandt

“Historical Atlas of the East Reserve” author Ernie Braun

“Wonder World” author KR Byggdin

“Darp Stories” author Abigail Carl-Klassen

“Lost on the Prairie” author MaryLou Driedger

Interview with journalist MaryLou Driedger

“Menno Moto” author Cameron Dueck

“Shelterbelts” author Jonathan Dyck

“Cattail Skyline” author Joanne Epp

“The World is Mostly Sky” author Sarah Ens

“Finding their Way Again” author Matthew Fast