Miriam Toews’ teenage house honoured with plaque

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This article was published 22/06/2024 (264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Miriam Toews. It’s difficult to describe this beloved Canadian author without mentioning the City of Steinbach and it’s Mennonite heritage. For it was Toews’ books, particularly A Complicated Kindness, that were shaped by this city and its people.

It has perhaps long been wondered by fans of Toews’ work why there is no monument or plaque commemorating the author of Women Talking and A Boy of Good Breeding in Steinbach. Well, now there is.

Andrew Unger, the scribe of the Mennonite satire website The Unger Review, has taken it upon himself to remedy the situation by creating a plaque honouring Toews and her teenage home on Brandt Street.

“The plaque had been something that had been on my mind for quite a while, years actually. I thought there had to be some way we could honour Miriam Toews here in Steinbach, so far nothing had been done.

“When I found out through a friend of a friend that the new owners of the house were fans of Miriam Toews and were receptive to having a plaque put up then I sort of pounced on the opportunity. We could fundraise the money, get the plaque made and put it up there. It was exciting.”

Within 24 hours of posting to Go Fund Me, Unger had raised $1,600. The inscription on the bronze plaque was written by Unger who is also a fan of Toews’ work.

“I also write about Mennonites and I write with humour like Miriam Toews does so she’s a big influence on my own writing as she is for I think a lot of writers. So I just thought this writer whose the most famous writer to ever come out of Steinbach and the most famous person probably to ever live in Steinbach, there should be some place where people can go and see and recognize her right in town.”

The plaque is located at 58 Brandt Street in the front lawn of a white mid-century bungalow. The bungalow was the home of Toews’ character Nomi in A Complicated Kindness, which details the passage to adulthood of the main character.

“I don’t think about (living in her home) a whole lot, but I like knowing there’s something interesting about the house – something historical,” said homeowner Jeremy Hawbaker. “I also, like Andrew, care about preserving history making sure that things don’t get knocked down and things like that and I feel like that’s what I’m here for.”

Hawbaker and his wife only moved into the home in March, but are fans of Toews’ writing. When they found out the house used to be her home that clinched the deal for the Hawbakers.

“We were interested in having a piece of history,” said Jeremy.

Unger said the home was the obvious choice for the plaque, especially since Toews references it not only in A Complicated Kindness but in All My Puny Sorrows as well. Asked whether the plaque will bring tourists to town, Unger said it very well could. He shared how a Quebec fan of Toews called Tourism Manitoba to see if there was anything dedicated to Toews in Steinbach. She was told there was a large statue being planned by the city, something that was picked up from the Unger Review’s previous incarnation as The Daily Bonnet.

“The woman contacted me and she knew it was a joke and she knew it was satire, but she said is there anything? I know there isn’t a statue but there must be something. At the time there was nothing, now if that ever happens again I can say, ‘Hey, you know what? You can come and see this plaque.’ So I do think it’ll have some small impact. Certainly, as a writer and fan of books, I myself like to visit the homes or locations associated with writers. I think there will be some people who will come for that,” said Unger.

“I just think that the plaque will show to Steinbach, as a community and also the wider Canadian literary world, that Miriam Toews is someone we admire and respect and appreciate her works.”