A one-day bus tour of literary Manitoba, with writers reading in the very landscapes their work inscribes, is one of the special features of the fifth international conference on Mennonite/s Writing, to take place at the University of Winnipeg on Oct. 1-4. Rudy Wiebe, Di Brandt, David Bergen and Patrick Friesen, along with Armin Wiebe, David Elias, Sarah Klassen, David Waltner-Toews, Maurice Mierau, John Weier, Al Reimer and others, all have lived and worked in this prairie landscape. Almost all have roots in the Mennonite communities of Winnipeg or southern Manitoba. All will read from their work.
This Winnipeg conference, with readings on Thursday and Friday evenings and Friday and Saturday afternoons, will also present the work of literary scholars from across this continent and abroad. On Friday and Saturday they will offer commentaries on individual works of fiction and poetry, and will address more general subjects such as the influence of place in Mennonite/s writing and the nature of Mennonite literature’s diverse audiences. They will also offer commentary on such themes as love, martyrdom, community and personal narrative among Mennonites and within “Mennonite” writing.
The conference is free and open to the public. All sessions will take place in the University of Winnipeg’s Convocation Hall.