‘Needed to be some recognition’: Fundraiser to create plaque at Miriam Toews’ former Steinbach home
A Steinbach writer has launched an online fundraiser to install a plaque at the Steinbach, Man. home where Miriam Toews spent her teen years.
Andrew Unger launched a GoFundMe last week, calling for donations towards a $1,500 goal to pay for the plaque.
As of Wednesday, it had already raised $1,200.
“I thought that there needed to be some recognition of Miriam Toews in Steinbach and up until now, there has not been anything,” Unger told CTV News Winnipeg in a phone interview.
Unger says he got involved with the fundraising effort after he heard through word of mouth that the home had been sold, and the new owners were keen on the idea.
The home itself has been immortalized in the opening lines of Toews’ Governor General’s Award-winning book “A Complicated Kindness,” described as a “low brick bungalow out on highway number twelve.”
Unger commissioned a design, priced out the project and talked with the city to see where it can be placed.
Unger, a writer himself, counts Toews as an inspiration.
Author Miriam Toews is shown in an undated handout photo. Toews is among the finalists for the lucrative Scotiabank Giller Prize. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Random House of Canada, Carol Loewen)
“She's bold. She's honest. She's funny. She writes about people in places that are familiar to her and familiar to a lot of people, but I think she writes about corners and pockets of Canadian culture that maybe hadn't been written about all that much before her.”
The plaque will be similar to other bronze designs in the city with text summraizing Toews' literary contributions and her connection to the home.
Unger says he received Toews’ blessing before going ahead with the plaque.
It’s a small way to recognize the impact her writing has had in southern Manitoba and around the world.
“Certainly not every town our size has a writer of this level of prominence, so I think it's time that we acknowledge that publicly in some way.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
Group tied to Islamic State plotted fatal Ontario restaurant shooting: Crown
A gunman who is accused of killing a young Ontario man and shooting four of his family members at their small Mississauga restaurant in 2021 was allegedly part of a trio who had pledged allegiance to the listed terrorist group Islamic State, a Crown attorney said in an opening statement in the Brampton murder trial this week.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Purolator truck drivers from Guelph, Ont. save man walking in Hwy. 407 lanes
A pair of Purolator transport truck drivers from Guelph, Ont. are being hailed as heroes for their efforts in helping a person in crisis.
Trudeau responds to American senators calling on Canada to increase defence spending
Stopping short of offering the assurance U.S. senators are seeking, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is aware there's more work to do in order to see Canada meet NATO's defence spending target.
Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.