Lauded graphic novel coming to book club

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This article was published 14/10/2023 (1097 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press Book Club is pleased to welcome Jonathan Dyck to the next virtual meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. to discuss his award-winning debut graphic novel, Shelterbelts.

Dyck is an illustrator, graphic designer and cartoonist based in Winnipeg. Shelterbelts, published in 2022 by Conundrum Press, is his first foray into long-form fiction.

The book is presented as a series of vignettes following characters, young and old, in the fictional Mennonite community of Hespeler as they navigate modern social issues while grappling with their faith and shared history.

Through sparse, realistic black-and-white illustrations, Dyck explores a wide range of topics, from queer acceptance and shrinking congregations to conscientious objection and Indigenous land rights told through a generational divide.

In June, Shelterbelts won the 2023 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, the top prize at the annual Manitoba Book Awards and Dyck was also named co-winner of the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book. In April, the graphic novel won the Nipper Prize for emerging talent at the Doug Wright Awards for cartoonists.

“Dyck follows in the rather large footsteps of well-known Mennonite authors such as Miriam Toews and Rudy Wiebe with a bemused overview of issues that just won’t go away,” reads a review by Gordon Arnold published in the Free Press. “(The author) replaces stereotypes of rural Mennonite life with a nuanced view of life and beliefs in the fictional Mennonite town of Hespeler. It is worth the trip to this fictional community to see how it is coping.”

Dyck will be joined by Free Press arts and culture reporter Eva Wasney, Chris Hall of McNally Robinson Booksellers and Free Press multimedia producer Nadya Pankiw for the virtual book club meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. He will discuss the book and answer questions from viewers and readers.

Copies of Shelterbelts are available to purchase at McNally Robinson; there is no cost to join the book club and virtual discussion, which will be available to replay after the event on the Free Press YouTube channel.

To join the Free Press Book Club and for more information on current and future book picks, visit wfp.to/bookclub.