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Alumni Authors

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UWinnipeg has over 100 alumni authors offering reads from fiction, to non-fiction, poetry, and children’s literature. Our published alumni have been hitting the best sellers lists and illuminating readers around the globe for decades. We are pleased to celebrate these authors here. Check out the list below of our latest published authors as well as other known alumni authors.

A section in The University of Winnipeg Library has been dedicated to Alumni Authors. Use your Alumni Card to borrow these great reads and more. If you have published a piece of work and would like to be included in this list or would like to receive your alumni card, please email alumni@uwinnipeg.ca.

UWinnipeg Alumni Authors Published in 2024

David Annandale (Collegiate 85) 
David Annandale (Author of The Damnation of Pythos) Callis & Toll (March 23, 2024).

Lloyd Axworthy, PC, OC, OM (BA 61, PhD 98)
Lloyd Axworthy: My Life in Politics (October 16, 2024, Sutherland House)

Sonya Ballantyne, (BA 14)
Little by Little, You Can Change the World (August 27, 2024, Portage and Main Press)

Ralph Friesen (BA 70, MA 01)
Prosperity Ever—Depression Never: Steinbach in the 1930s (October 9, 2024, Ralph Friesen)

Marieke Gruwel (BAH 16)
Manitoba Women In Design (March 7, 2024, Marieke Gruwel)

Joan Johannson
Discovering the Mystical God: The God Who Loves Me

Cheryl Parisien
The Unweaving (September 17, 2024, Tidewater Press)

David A. Robertson
The Sleeping Giant, The Misewa Saga, Book Five (August 6, 2024, Penguin Random House Canada)

Tasha Spillett
Surviving City Volume 3 (August 20, 2024, Portage and Main Press)

Katharena Vermette
Real Ones (September 3, 2024, Penguin Canada)

Joshua Whitehead
Making Love with the Land Essays (October 1, 2024, The University of Minnesota Press)


UWinnipeg Alumni Authors by Category

Fiction

David Annandale (Collegiate 85) 
Callis & Toll (March 23, 2024).
Gethsemane Hall (2012)
The Wicked and the Damned (2019) with Phil Kelly and Josh Reynolds
The House of Night and Chain (2019)

Karen Bate (BA 76) 
Ice (August 2015).

David Bergen (BED 85, LLD 07) 
Away from the Dead (September 2023). Longlisted, Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Out of Mind (2021)
Stranger (2016)
Leaving Tomorrow (2014)

L E Dereksen (BA 12) 
The Avanir Chronicles (2 book series) (2018)

Angele Gougeon (BA 05)
Sticks and Stones (March 28, 2018)

Patti Grayson (BA 79) 
Autumn, One Spring (2010, Turnstone Press). Nominated for the Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher & the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction at the 2011 Manitoba Book Awards.

Frances Greenslade (BA 86)
Shelter (2012, Random House Canada)

Shirley Grosser (Coll 55, BA 58) 
RESILIENCE: Women's Stories of WWII. (2013, Bison Books)

Miriam Kalb (BA 77, BED 81)  
Lead me not onto temptation; I can find it myself: Grandma Goes Online. (March 30, 2012) published under her pen name, K. C. Konrad.

Wendy Loewen (BA 93)
The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2019).

Catherine Macdonald (BAH 71) 
Put on the Armour of Light (December 11, 2014, At Bay Press). Won the Manitoba Book Awards Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction Book 2016.

Cheryl Parisien (BA 93) 
The Unweaving, (September 2024, Tidewater Press).

Kevin Patterson (Associate Alumnus) 
The Water In Between, (June 2001). New York Times Notable Book.
Country of Cold, (2003) Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2003, as well as the inaugural City of Victoria Butler Book Prize.

Alison Preston (Coll 67, BA 88)
Blue Vengeance (Signature Editions, 2014) 
The Girl in the Wall (2011). Winner of the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
Sunny Dreams (2007)
Cherry Bites (2004)
The Geranium Girls (2002)
The Rain Barrel Baby (2000). A Blue and Golden Year (Turnstone Press, 1997)

Corey Paul Redekop (BAH 95)
HUSK (ECW Press, 2012) Husk received great raves in The Toronto Star (a Best Read of Fall 2012), Quill & Quire, and BookList.

Daria Salamon (BA 99) 
The Prairie Bridesmaid, (2008)
Don't Try This at Home: One Family's (mis) Adventures Abroad (2019) is co-authored by husband Rob Krause.

Margaret Sweatman (Collegiate 71, BA 74) 
The Gunsmith's Daughter (Goose Lane, 2022)
When Alice Lay Down With Peter (2001)
Mr. Jones (2014).

Jonny Symons (BA 07) 
Take Me Out Tonight (self published, 2016)

Joan Thomas (BA 72) 
Reading by Lightning, (Goose Lane Editions) Winner of the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean), Longlist, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2010, Finalist, McNally Robinson Book of the Year, Finalist, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, The Globe Best 100 list.
Wild Hope (Harper Perennial, 2023)Winner of the Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, A CBC Book of the Year, Winnipeg Free Press Fiction of 2023.
Five Wives (Harper Collins Canada, 2019) Winner of the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Fiction, Finalist, McNally Robinson Prize and Finalist, Margaret Laurence Fiction Prize.
Curiosity (McClelland and Stewart, 2010) Nominated for the IMPAC Award and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The Opening Sky, (McClelland and Stewart, 2014) Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction.

Janine Tougas (BA 73) 
Blue Book Series: Paul and Susan (Apprentissage Illimité Inc, 2015)
Jaimie and the Bison Hunt (Apprentissage Illimité Inc, 2013)
Gabriel Between Dog and Wolf (Apprentissage Illimité Inc, 2016)
Harry and the Dark Horse (Apprentissage Illimité Inc, 2018)
Sara in Raven’s Clothes (Apprentissage Illimité Inc, 2018)

Bill Valgardson (BA 61, DLITT 95)
What The Bear Said: Skald tales (Turnstone Press, 2011)

Katherena Vermette (BA4 12) 
Real Ones (Hamish Hamilton, 2024)
The Break: The Strangers Book 1 (House of Anansi Press, 2016)
The Circle (Hamish Hamilton, 2023)
The Strangers (Penguin Canada, 2022)
River Woman (House of Anansi Press, 2018)
Seven Teachings (Portage and Main Press, 2014 & 2015)

Joshua Whitehead (BA 14, MA 15)
Making Love with the Land (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2021)
Jonny Appleseed (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018)
full-metal indigiqueer (Talonbooks, 2017)

Armin Wiebe (BA 69) 
Armin's Shorts (Turnstone Press, 2015)
Grandmother Laughing (Turnstone Press, 2018)

 

Non-Fiction

 

Kristine Alexander (BAH 02) 
Guiding Modern Girls, Girlhood, Empire and Internationalism in the 1920's and 1930's 

Barbara Davis (BA 07) 
Managing Business Analysis Services: A Framework for Sustainable Projects and Corporate Strategy Success 

Margot Fedoruk (BA 89) 
Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir (Heritage House).

Rob Fennell (BA 91) 
The Rule of Faith and Biblical Interpretation: Reform, Resistance, and Renewal (Cascade, 2018). 

Ralph Friesen (BAH 70, MMFT 01) 
Dad, God, & Me, 
Prosperity Ever--Depression Never: Steinbach in the 1930s, published by Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.

Fiona Green (BA 87)
Coming Into Being: Mothers on Finding and Realizing Feminism. (Demeter Press).

Randall Grieser (BA 99) 
The Ordinary Leader (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2017),
The Culture Question (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2019)
 Don’t Blame the Lettuce: Insights to Help You Grow as a Leader and Nurture Your Workplace Culture (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2022). 

Marieke Gruwel (BAH16) 
"Women's Contributions to Manitoba's Build (March 7, 2024).
Environment: The case of Green Clankstein Russell" (June 2021). 

Gordon Hart (BSC4 82) 
Plants in Literature and Life: A Wide-Ranging Dictionary of Botanical Terms

Michael Izen (BAH 91) 
Finger Up The Bum: An Illustrated Guide to Michael’s Prostate Cancer.

Craig Jones (BAH 86)
 Chasing the Blues: A Traveler’s Guide to America’s Music, published by Backbeat Books, an imprint of Globe Pequot.

Glen Johnson (BA 93) 
made the longlist for the 2016 CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize.

Esyllt Jones (MA 97)
 Imagining Winnipeg: History through the Photographs of L.B. Foote won the Best Illustrated Book of the Year in 2013.

Wab Kinew (Coll 99)
 The Reason You Walk. Won the Manitoba Book Awards McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award 2016: 

Michael Labun (BAH 94) 
The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2019).

Janet Lewis-Anderson (BA 78) 
In The Arms of The Angels ‑ Our Journey Through The Darkness of Dementia 

Royden Loewen (BAH 77)
Horse and Buggy Genius: Listening to Mennonites Contest the Modern World  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017

Wendy Loewen (BED 93
The Culture Question (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2019)
Don’t Blame the Lettuce: Insights to Help You Grow as a Leader and Nurture Your Workplace Culture (ACHIEVE Publishing, 2022).

Alexander Loudon (BAH 94) 
 Could Have Been Me (pen name Alexander London),
Body Music: Diary of a Black Belt in Asia;
"Hey, Stinky Feet!" The Complete Guide to Running Your First Marathon by Michael P. Dyer and Alexander Loudon; and 2019 (contributing author) by J.H.

Robyn Maynard (Collegiate 04)
Rehearsals for Living. Along with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a finalist in the Governor Generals Literary Awards for the book. 

Robin MacDonald (BA 95) 
Undercurrent. Made the longlist for the 2016 CBC Creative Nonfiction Prize for her work.

Joe Martin (BAH 58)
From Wall Street to Bay Street 
Relentless Change: A Casebook for the Study of Canadian Business History

Maurice Mierau (BAH 84)
Detachment

Brenda McKenzie (BED 90) 
Loving You (self-published)

Susan Misner (BA 93)
It’s Your Money, Honey 

Sydney E. (Beth) Porter (BAH 66)
Accidental Friends: Stories from my Life in Community 

Bill Redekop (BA 81)  
Made in Manitoba: The Best of Open Road Stories,  MacIntyre Purcell Publishing in Lunenburg (2011).

Frederick Ross (BSC 84) 
'A Deadly Thaw: The York Factory Connection'.

Jessica L. Scott-Reid (BA 05)
The New Dry Land Workout, Practical Writing Exercises for Professional Hockey Players, in the 25th volume of the Journal of Poetry Therapy (JPT).

David BJ Snyder (BA 68) 
Penticton Remembers Vol. III

Robin Summerfield (BA 95) 
Winnipeg Cooks: Signature Recipes from the City’s Top Chefs. Manitoba Book Awards Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award 2016.

Janis Thiessen (MA 97) 
Not Talking Union: An Oral History of North American Mennonites and Labour (2016)

Susan Thompson (Collegiate 67, BA 71) 
His Her Worship: Moments in History, Moments in Time, an autobiography with Terry Létienne

Gunars Tomsons (Collegiate 57, BA 61)
To Be Fed (McNally Robinson, Winnipeg, 2012)
In Seeing the Sun (McNally Robinson, Winnipeg, 2014),

Karen E. Toole (BA 72) 
Reflections   Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017

Oriole (Vane) Veldhuis (BED 85, MDiv 92) 
FOR ELISE: Unveiling the Forgotten Woman on the Criddle Homestead

Douglas Woods (MDIV 94) 
THINK HEADLINES (Turning your stories into headlines).

Robert Wozny (PACE 06, BA 11)
Storytelling for Business The Art and Science of Creating Connection in the Digital Age. 

Academic

Daniel, Brodsky (Collegiate 76, BAH 84)
Sex Offenders Identification, Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Legal Issues (Oxford University Press).

Linda Lori Burgess (BA 74)
“Five Minutes to Curtain - A Teacher’s Guide for Creating and Staging Original Plays” J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing 2022

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov's (BA 93)
Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days, has received the 2012 Prose Award for Clinical Medicine. The Prose Awards are the American publishers' awards for professional and scholarly excellence.

Peter Denton (BAH 80) 
 Live Close to Home (Rocky Mountain Books) on Sunday, November 27, 2016.

Daniel W. Doerksen (BA 57)
Picturing Religious Experience: George Herbert, Calvin, and the Scriptures (University of Delaware Press, 2011)
Conforming to the Word: Herbert, Donne, and the English Church before Laud.

Ryan Eyford (BAH 01) 
White Settler Reserve: New Iceland and the Colonization of the Canadian West.

Niki Gomez-Perales (BA 94) 
Attachment Focused Trauma Treatment for Children and Adolescents: Phase Oriented Strategies for Addressing Complex Trauma Disorders. 

Gordon Thomas Hart (BSC 82) 
Plants in Literature and Life: a wide‑ranging dictionary of botanical terms.

Linda Huebert Hecht (BA 65)
Women in Early Austrian Anabaptism, Their Days, Their Stories was published in 2009 by Pandora Press.

Jamie Howison (BA 83) 
God's Mind in That Music 

Jonathon Ullyot (Coll 96) 
The Medieval Presence in Modernist Literature 

 

Poetry

Rose Condo (BAH 00) 
After the Storm contains the three unabridged scripts of her acclaimed spoken word theatre shows, The Geography of Me, How to Starve an Artist and The Empathy Experiment. 

Kristian Enright (BAH 06) 
Sonar won the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book and the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer in 2013.

Joel Robert Ferguson (BA4 18) 
The Lost Cafeteria won the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry at the 2022 Manitoba Book Awards.

Catherine Hunter(BAH 86) 
St. Boniface Elegies Manitoba Book Award Winner 2020. Lansdowne Prize for Poetry: St. Boniface Elegies, published by Signature Editions Canada Council for the Arts : Governor General's Literary Awards 2019 Finalist for the novel: .

Hanna Green (BA 18)
Xanax Cowboy published by House of Anansi Press. Won the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry for her debut collection 

Katherena Vermette (BA4 12)
North End Love Songs. Won the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry in 2013

Marianne (Forsyth) Vespry (BA 57)  
Celebrating Poets Over 70, which she co-edited with Ellen B. Ryan.

Romanowski, Ron (BA 80) 
If 30,000 Strikers Marched Today (May 2019).

Children/Young Adult

Darlyne Bautista (BAH 05) 
Where is Winnipeg? 

Sharon Chisvin (BA 80) & Carol Leszcz (BA 82) co-wrote 
The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter (2012). Sharon wrote the story and her friend Carol illustrated it, shortly before passing away.

Brenlee Coates (BA 09)
You Came From My Heart (2022) won the Children's Illustration - Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Award for  illustrations by Roberta Landreth at the 2022 Manitoba Book Awards.

Kevin Fournier (Collegiate 92) 
The Green-Eyed Queen of Suicide City. Won the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award for his dark, supernatural novel.

Carol Matas  (Collegiate 67)
A Struggle For Hope - the book explores the 1944 rebellion by inmates of Auschwitz and the post-Holocaust immigration to Israel, and 
Who's Looking?: How Animals See the World - through clever illustrations and scientific prose, we are reminded that while we may see things differently, we all share this life together on planet Earth.

Andreas Oertel (BA 88)
 Prisoner of Warren.  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017.

Bill Richardson (BA 76, LLD 98) 
The Promise Basket illustrated by Slavka Kolesar, published by Groundwood Books. Manitoba Book Award Winner 2020 McNally Robinson Book for Young People, Younger Category 

David Alexander Robertson (BA '99)
Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017
Will I See?  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017
When We Were Alone  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017, 2016 Beatrice Mosionier Award for Aboriginal Writer of the Year Award: 2nd Place, 2021 recipient of the Writers' Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award.
Mesewa Saga series. Worldwide production rights to his ongoing epic young-adult  of books were recently acquired by ABC Signature, part of Disney Television Studios.
On the Trapline David A. Robertson and Vancouver illustrator Julie Flett won the Governor General's Literary Award 2021 in the young people's literature — illustrated books category for the picture book .

Tasha Spillet-Sumner (BA 12, BED 12)
I Sang You Down From The Stars  Debuted at number 3 on a New York Times best sellers list. This book was also awarded the McNally Robinson Book For Young People at the 2022 Manitoba Book Awards.

Linda Szyszkowski (BA & BED 2009, PACE 2012) 
Secret Adventures of Tiny Toba (2016) Co-authored with her husband Dan Clement

Tougas, Janine (BA 73) 
The Voyage Series, Jaimie and the Bison Hunt, Gabriel Between Dog and Wolf, Harry and the Dark Horse, and Sara in Raven’s Clothes. They were published in French from 2013-2017 by Apprentices Illimité Inc and translated in English in 2019. The two first novels are Canadian bestsellers in French. 

Plays

Rick Chafe (BA 81) 
Marriage: A Demolition in Two Acts  Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017

Trish Cooper (BAH 2010) 
Social Studies Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017

Steven Ratzlaff (BAH 94) 
Reservations   Shortlisted Manitoba Book Awards 2017

 


Do you know someone whose name should be on this page? Please e-mail alumni@uwinnipeg.ca with your suggestions.