Authors dish up tasty history of Manitoba eats

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Manitobans hungry to learn more about the origins of some of our most beloved foods are in for a tasty literary treat.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/04/2024 (903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans hungry to learn more about the origins of some of our most beloved foods are in for a tasty literary treat.

Local authors and historians Kimberley Moore and Janis Thiessen launch their new book mmm… Manitoba: The Stories Behind the Foods We Eat on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Manitoba Museum (190 Rupert Ave.)

The pair began exploring the province in 2018 in a food truck in hopes of learning about our favourite foods and the people who make them, conducting over 70 interviews and doing plenty of other research (including tasting) along the way.

The book, published by University of Manitoba Press, includes recipes, photos, archival material and more, including a QR code in each chapter that links to additional content on their website (manitobafoodhistory.ca).

Moore and Thiessen will read from and discuss the book, sign copies and more. There will be a cash bar and, naturally, snacks.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

● ● ●

McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location is gearing up for a busy week of book and magazine launches.

Tonight (April 13) at 7 p.m., B.C. author and teacher Heather Plett launches Where Tenderness Lives: On Healing, Liberation, and Holding Space for Oneself, in which she reflects on her own life and elements of hope, vulnerability and compassion, providing suggestions to move from fear and doubt to freedom and joy. Plett will be joined in conversation by psychotherapist Saleha Alsheri.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

On Tuesday (April 16) at 7 p.m., Winnipeg poet laureate Chimwemwe Undi launches her debut poetry collection Scientific Marvel. Undi, who was named as a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award winner from the University of Manitoba, is also a lawyer; Scientific Marvel explores all manner of issues including race, gender, immigration and what it means to be a Winnipegger writing about Winnipeg.

Undi will be joined in conversation by Charlene Diehl, director of the Winnipeg International Writers Festival. (To read a Q&A between Undi and Ariel Gordon, see page F7 of the 49.8 section of today’s Free Press.)

On Wednesday (April 17), love will be in the air starting at 7 p.m. as romance authors Tessa Bailey and Yulin Kuang roll into town for a two-pronged book launch.

Bailey is bringing her new novel Fangirl Down, which follows a bad boy pro athlete as he falls for one of his biggest fans.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Kuang, meanwhile, is bringing How to End a Love Story, described as “a sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings.”

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

Bailey and Kuang will be joined in conversation by McNally Robinson’s Sabrina Simmonds.

Then on Thursday (April 18) at 7 p.m., the Winnipeg-born but Nova Scotia-based Lori Neilsen Glenn comes to town to launch her essay collection The Old Moon in Her Arms: Women I Have Known and Been. Guided by the Cree concept of kinship of all creation and the elliptical path of the moon, the book brings together fragments of prose that explore Glenn’s life as a wife, mother, scholar, writer and more.

Glenn will be joined in conversation by former Shelagh Rogers, former host of CBC’s The Next Chapter.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

On Friday (April 19) at 7 p.m., Prairie Fire magazine launches its latest issue, Burning Up, Burning Down, a collection of writing guest edited by Sue Goyette in response to 2023 being the hottest year on record.

The event will be hosted by local poet Kristian Enright and will feature readings by contributors including Rowan McCandless, Kerry Ryan, Margaret Sweatman, Deborah Schnitzer, Zilla Jones and others.

● ● ●

The short list for the second Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which honours women and non-binary writers in Canada and the U.S., has unveiled its five-book short list, with titles by three authors from this side of the border.

Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, Claudia Dey’s Daughter and Janika Oza’s A History of Burning are joined by V.V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night and Kim Coleman Foote’s Coleman Hill as finalists for the US $150,000 prize, which includes a residency with Fogo Island Inn. (Each runner up receives US$12.500.)

The winner will be announced at a Toronto event on May 13.

books@freepress.mb.ca

Ben Sigurdson

Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer

Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.

In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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