(Another) 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.
I am an "Act II” writer. I worked in manufacturing—running a small company from 1980-96—followed by 20+ years in advertising before “chucking it all” and devoting myself to literary fiction in 2016. I am a Mennonite, a lover of sports, books, and the outdoors. My wife Janice and I live in a 75-year-old cabin in the Manitoba boreal. Certain people call me “Gramps.”
How do you take your coffee? Moka pot, with cream.
What Blank Spaces issue were you first published in? June 2018 - Volume 2, Issue 4 - with “Sweet Caporal at Dawn.”
What are you reading right now? What is it about and what keeps you coming back to the pages? What is it about and what keeps you coming back to the pages? : A published history of my hometown during the Depression and a WIP novel by a writer friend from Winnipeg. I read a lot of short fiction, but my consumption of novels and other long form material has fallen off due to time constraints.
When did you know you first wanted to write? Grade 4, though at the time I considered many occupations.
What role has Blank Spaces played in your creative journey? An important role. Blank Spaces gave me advice, editing support, industry know-how (“Here's how it works...”), and affirmation that I belonged in this world.
Tell us a little about the piece Blank Spaces published and how it was received by family, friends, and the greater community? It started out as a poem and I converted it to prose. It’s a remembrance of place and personalities—a character study that paddles a canoe.
Describe how you see the landscape of Canadian publishing. Big. Huge growth in the self-publish stream. A constant flow of new work out of (primarily) urban-based writers. We still suffer from a national imposter syndrome—needing validation from the US and UK.
Why is Canadian content important? Ask the Guess Who, the Tragically Hip, Gordon Lightfoot, etc. Ask Alice Munro. Ask CBC Books. Without a clear path to readers (and one for them to us), we will continue to languish in the shadow of NYC and London, never breaking free to see ourselves as equal or better. Most of my publishing has been in the US and the UK. They love the Canadian tone, place, and our distinctive national character—a building comprising many singular apartments.
Where has your creative journey taken you since being published in Blank Spaces? Slush piles, 139 story publications (I have submitted about 850 stories over the last nine years), 24 contest “almosts” (long list, short list), four Pushcart Prize noms, including two from Blank Spaces, traditional publication of my debut collection of short stories, Pinching Zwieback (At Bay Press, 2023), a contract in hand for a novel, and a second (and close to a third) collection of short fiction.
What does your creative process look like? Writing in the morning after breakfast. Outdoor work, exercise, in the afternoons. Lazy evenings with thoughts of tomorrow’s story edits and new material. Marketing books, including in-person readings (I've done over 70), takes place as and when needed. (A lot.)
How do you invest in your creative goals? Tools (Duotrope, Submittable, Word), time to write every day, courses, WIR workshopping, writing groups, submitting stories any time of day or night.
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer? I’d hang on to my stents, but a lot of other stuff would go on the table!
If you could tell your young creative self anything, what would it be? Do it now, the money will follow. (“Shut up and write.”)
Who are your writing influences and how do they motivate you? Classics, Hemingway, Miriam Toews, Vonnegut, Breece, Mordecai Richler, D’J Pancake, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, Bob Dylan, The Streets, the boreal forest, Manitoba winters, Mennonite artists, physical labour of the sweaty, dusty, busted knuckle variety (when all my creative gnomes are trying to get me back inside where it's more comfortable and less mosquitoey.)
Who is your hero of fiction? : The Brave Cowboy. A "rugged individualist" but with a heart, morals, and a sense of his own mortality and flaws.
What is the first book that made you cry? : The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread.
What do you tell yourself every time it gets hard and you want to quit? Shut up and write.
Do you have any writing rituals that help the words flow? Writing every day I can. Being restless and feeling urgency and not talking about it, but doing it. A few hacks: 1—in Word, searching “ly” and then going through the results and taking out unnecessary adverbs (a Charlie Fish trick, Fiction on the Web). 2—Reading drafts aloud and having Word read it aloud in a woman’s voice (Under the “Review” tab).
Who do you think makes a better creative: an empath or a pragmatist? Empathy activates imagination.
What advice do you have for writers struggling to break into the industry? Write, edit, be annoyingly self-promotional but temper that by helping others like you to make progress (without being overly transactional).
What are your creative goals? Where do you see yourself in five years? Winning some contests, getting a residency, attending literary festivals and conferences to read and speak, judging more contests, meeting more inspiring writers, editors, and publishers.
What are you currently working on? Waiting to edit my novel with the press editors. Prepping a second collection and querying a third. Entering contests and subbing periodicals. A little poetry. More Open Mics and readings.
What should we be watching for from you? My forthcoming novel with At Bay Press, Mulholland and Hardbar; said to be, “Fargo, with a Mennonite twang.”
Mitchell Toews is a Canadian writer with a strong periodical publishing history. His collection of short stories, Pinching Zwieback (At Bay Press, 2023), is selling well across Canada. A novel published by At Bay Press is forthcoming in 2026.
