Coffee Chat with Mitchell Toews
Pour yourself a nice steaming cup and settle in to get to know Mitchell Toews a little better.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? Where are you located? Do you have a day job?
Two daughters, one wife. Two grandkids. I have built not one, but two geodesic dome homes. I have been a milkman and a baker, both thanks to my dad, who, incidentally, had a try-out with the Red Wings in 1949. Besides Steinbach, I have lived in Manitoba, Alberta, and B.C. and have visited all ten provinces. I owned a manufacturing company for 16 years. I am an avid lover of windsurfing, rowing, and cross-country skiing.
We live beside a lake, so I do all of these things frequently, even on the ice. (Well, the winter rower is stationary.) Besides the writers listed elsewhere in this interview, my artistic heroes include Dylan, Keats, John Prine, Joni M, Emily Carr, and Winslow Homer. I'm a secular Mennonite. I lived the Montreal Protocol and environmental issues are close to my heart and are part of my daily existence, here in the boreal.
How do you take your coffee? Black, occasionally a little cream. (Trying not to be one dimensional.)
What Blank Spaces issue were you first published in? Volume 2 Issue 4, June 2018
When did you first know you wanted to write? Grade four. I submitted to a themed call for fiction: "What I Want to be When I Grow Up." I wrote about my adventures being a surgeon, fireman, hockey player, and jet pilot. The last line in my epic was, "And then I went back and finished operating on my lady." Now, although this story was rejected...
The preceding is largely true — albeit autofiction — and although the incident did have a bearing on my love for writing, it may not have been the definitive moment. Hans Christian Andersen, the Hardy Boys, comic books, the University of Manitoba Extension Library (a mail-order service that sent books to Steinbach wrapped in brown paper tied with string) and the short stories in my dad's Esquire Magazines were all contributors to my eventual inky ambitions. A milestone was my rather severe but passionate first-year English prof at UVIC. As dour and circumspect as Miss Havisham, she scolded often and without pity. Encouragement was hard-earned, rare, and highly valued. She was the tweedy glimmer-giver and after a lifetime of making a living, I have accepted her challenge with guns blazing since 2015.
What are you reading right now? What is it about and what keeps you coming back to the pages? I find myself reading fewer novels and replacing that treasured and jealously guarded timeslot with short stories. A lot of short stories. It's not that I fell out of love with novels and other longer works, but writing takes a lot out of each day's reserve of physical and intellectual energy. I find myself better equipped to handle shorter durations of concentration after writing. This theory might be part old age and part circular logic, I'm not sure which has the upper hand.
I am drawn to vivid descriptions that put me in a place and in a sensory moment. (Life of Pi!) I also appreciate a story that tells a story or an event that is somewhat unusual or unique. Adventures or happenstance that capture my imagination and have me wondering how I would manage the situation myself. I am always looking for someone to cheer for or against and the writer who can commandeer my emotions, my sympathies, gets my loyalty.
What role has Blank Spaces played in your creative journey? I submitted one of my earliest stories to Blank Spaces. I liked the frank, friendly vibe of the magazine and I appreciated the Canadian content mandate. The story. "Sweet Caporal at Dawn" was important to me, but it had been like silver iodide for rejections (for all you cloud seeding fans out there). On a whim, I changed the story's protagonist to a female character and submitted it. Behold. An acceptance!
One problem: the acceptance was to Ms. Michelle Toews. An honest mistake, no doubt, and somewhat predictable seeing as the story was about a young girl. I said nothing except to reply with enthusiasm for being included in the publication. They caught the gender boo-boo soon after and things progressed in a binary fashion.
Life is serious. Too much so and taking a thin page from Bill Murray and the Dalai Lama, I regarded the name mix-up as a funny little karmic hiccup and something that bound me and Blank Spaces together in a happy way. It helped that I'm prone to exactly that same kind of slip and so I had more than a banana peel's worth of empathy.
Sidebar: Blank Spaces has seen fit to nominate my work twice for a Pushcart Prize — the first time, in fact, for "Sweet Caporal at Dawn!"
Tell us a little about the piece Blank Spaces published and how it was received by family, friends, and the greater community? Blank Spaces also ran my story, "The Margin of the River." It's a model, in many ways, of how I want my stories to be: a quotidian setting, rich descriptions, relatable characters, human strengths and weaknesses on display, sorrow offset with quiet, cathartic humour.
Describe how you see the landscape of Canadian publishing. My personal slant distorts my viewpoint. I come to writing fiction from the storyteller's places: the campfire, the backseat on a long drive, the beer parlour.
I don't have a favourite, "So there was this one guy in my MFA..." story.
“A unique writer's voice is what attracts me at first. Popular, stylistic, poetry/prose rarely captures my attention. Sometimes writing is over-learned in classes, or representative of the teacher’s or studied subject’s body of work. I like the rawness of the pure untarnished colloquial voice in the reading. Having something to say is essential to me. That is to say, I’m not impressed with a great volume of rarely used words thrown together to impress the reader with the vast knowledge of the writer on command of English, tricks of writing, ancient history, or the places they’ve travelled.” — Judith Lawrence, American writer, editor, publisher.
I sometimes wonder if there is an abundance of one kind of writing today, and an absence of the other. This may be insight, or this may be whining.
Why is Canadian content important? This is a big topic. My age cohort grew up with the emergence of the CBC. Both radio and television were created with the idea of Canadian content coded into their DNA. There were critics when this practice was adopted, but when the long list of Canadians who made it in the wide world became evident, the critics were stilled.
If each province were to offer an exclusive, homegrown platform for their residents or ex-pats, I can see a lot of talent finding its way into the literary sunlight. Journals, anthologies, contests, publishing houses, libraries, and bookstores. There are many Canadian-only vehicles for new and emerging artists and given our wealth as a nation and our obvious talent and love for the arts, I say the more exclusive Canadian content opportunities, the better.
To paraphrase an Alberta writer: "If you fund it, they will come."
Where has your creative journey taken you since being published in Blank Spaces? I have been able to widen my range of story topics. I've also aimed at larger audiences — bigger markets. My geographical scope has also increased, selling stories to the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and the U.S. I have written a sci-fi novella (a back-burner item for now) and more than 80 stories have found a home in various journals, anthologies, and contests. I'm two years into a novel, set in the Manitoba boreal and featuring two Canadian-to-the-core characters. (Think: Fargo, but with Mennonite accents. But no wood chipper.)
I completed my first novel and have been editing. A lot of editing. Plus, Editor Alanna Rusnak and several other editors, authors, regular readers, Writers in Residence, and writing circle leaders have given encouragement to me for a collection of short stories.
In 2020, the Manitoba Arts Council awarded me with a grant towards the creation of a Manitoba art book. The concept is ekphrastic: I'll collaborate with Winnipeg photographer Phil Hossack to create an art book filled with images and short stories to complement the individuals, anecdotes, places, and people we encounter. (This project is on partial hold due to COVID restrictions.)
What does your writing process look like? I write daily. Writing includes editing and submitting. Usually starting mid-morning with a belly full of coffee and a "headful of ideas that are drivin' me insane..." I find two to three hours is about the limit. I read and exercise and turn to building or repair projects for our 70-year old home in the afternoon and early evening. I plunk around on social media throughout the day and evening, often connecting with other writers and readers.
How do you invest in your writing goals? Great question.
Tools: Word, Duotrope, Grammarly, Submittable.
Education and Craft: online and in-person courses offered by places like the Manitoba Writers' Guild (awesome!) public libraries and other supporters of writing. I'm somewhat remote so it's not easy to take courses. I belong to several critique circles and I do live or ZOOM readings whenever I can. I look for opportunities to attend courses or participate in residency activities.
Space: I built a writing room down by the water.
Mentoring: I cling to generous, smart, well-read readers like a burr on a wool sock.
What is more valuable? The "investment" is that I may risk the original friendship! Yikes. That's too far. If I abuse their giving nature, I hope they kick my butt!
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer? Well, I'm QUITE fond of our firstborn, but she might be amenable if we could negotiate a reasonable pay-off. With benefits.
If you could tell your young creative self anything, what would it be? "Start now."
Easy to say, now. Hard to do, then. I had some artistic chops and my dad encouraged me to go all-in and follow that stream. I wimped out. Usually, that story is the other way around, right? We made a living, had kids in our early twenties, and worked like a team of oxen to get our share of the Canadian mosaic. I had the itch for writing all along, but once you're in the game, it's hard to get out. Also, I was able to make my income in the creative economy, so I had some artistic satisfaction — I wasn't entirely shut-out from my natural strengths and inclinations.
Still, "Start now," would not be a bad piece of advice for young moi. That, or maybe, "Shave off that ridiculous moustache!"
Who are your writing influences and how do they motivate you? My hero, Miriam Toews, incorporates humour along with sorrow and suffering. It's hard to do and she does it best and with an incredibly deft hand. Hemingway teaches how to be spare and frugal with words. He shows us how to write "clear and hard" about the things that hurt the most. Salinger has a sense of whimsey and childhood in the adult characters. We were all once children. Vonnegut makes each word, each sentence, earn its keep. I have a mental image of him smiling, frowning, humming, and making facial expressions as he writes — it's all so alive and immediate. Mowat too, in much the same way. Patrick DeWitt is hewn right out of rock but beautifully carved, obdurate as it is. Flannery O'Connor shows how to delight with descriptions that are brazen, off-beat, and yet perfect. Lindsay Wong is a brilliant writer from the memoir world who incorporates interiority into her prose without over-simplifying. Per Vonnegut, sometimes you need the narrative to efficiently move your story along. Donna Besel teaches us how to hold the knife, plunge it in, and bleed on the paper. Bukowski too. Updike: character, character, character. Daniel Dafoe: details. Comic books: make everyone flawed, especially the heroes. Jack Thiessen, Phillip Roth, and Armin Wiebe give us licence to be real and ribald in our humour. Rudy Wiebe demonstrates respect and dignity in the writing tone. Lauren Carter challenges me to work hard every day, as she does. My sister Char reminds me to "let the verbs do the work."
Who is your hero of fiction? Moonlight Graham from "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella. Hold onto your childhood, be brave, be honest, don't give up.
What is the first book that made you cry? "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" Some people died and some people didn't. Now, why is that?
What do you tell yourself every time it gets hard and you want to quit? : F**k'em.
Do you have any writing rituals that help the words flow? Words and phrases. Dictionaries, florid descriptions, lively conversation (bull sessions and trading stories), scenes and passages from old movies like westerns or gangster flicks ("Shaddup, will ya. You're makin' my ears hoarse.") that have a melodramatic pulse to them from which I can extract a triggering idea or character and refine to my purpose.
What are your creative goals? Where do you see yourself in five years? I have been a different kind of writer — ad copy, sloganeering, persuasion, and other such muckery — for twenty years. So I won't aspire to that. Artistically, fiction is my golden path. I want to learn to write with the kind of awful honesty that has consequences. That's my mark and I'll steer that course. Robert Kennedy said, "Good luck we earn and bad luck we endure," and that has been and will be my fate for the next five years and beyond.
Writers, if they choose, can make sure their suffering wasn't for nothing.
What are you currently working on? Three projects stand out, colossal among the vital chatter of short stories, submissions, revisions, ZOOM, readings, and critiques :
Editing my debut novel, preparing for Beta and sensitivity readers, learning about the various kinds of publishing, learning about literary agents and how they work — how to query... these are my "novelishous" activities.
As COVD begins to ebb, my work on the art book about Manitoba people and places can start to flow. Prospecting for interesting places and people and then, when we can, going out to interview and take pictures. This is my "ekphrastic" schedule of labour.
Curating a themed collection of short stories focused on my Mennonite heritage and growing up in a quirky and characterful prairie town... my "MennoGrit" project.
What should we be watching for from you? I have a group of about seven new short stories in the loom that tackle tough subjects. These pieces are not connected to my Mennonite upbringing but contain other Canadian experiences. Poverty, addiction, and violence born of violence are among the underlying dynamics, the weft and warp. These stories are not supported by frameworks of nostalgia, but they are still hopeful. Victoria, Camrose, and Winnipeg in winter are among the settings and I am aiming these stories, both fiction and creative nonfiction, at contests and prizes.
Website: mitchellaneous.com
Other links: philhossackphoto.ca
Is there anything else you'd like to share that the interview did not cover? As my friend Cory H. once said, about writers and writing: "Shut up and write."
If you’re a past Blank Spaces contributor and would like to be featured in a virtual coffee chat, please complete our online interview form.
Mitchell’s work can be found in two of our beautiful anthologies as well as back issues of the magazine.
