Last week I had the amazing pleasure of listening to Miriam Toews read from her latest novel, Irma Voth. As you may have noticed in my previous blogs, this year I’ve met some huge authors, and while it’s hard to rank one author’s reading against another’s, Toews’ reading and interview in Guelph was one of my favourites.

Irma Voth is the third book I’ve read by Miriam Toews but after last night especially, I want to read the other three that she has written. You probably know her name due to her novel A Complicated Kindness, about a young Mennonite girl from Canada who longs to escape her traditional roots and be her own person. I could talk all day about the literary genius behind Toews’ work and then talk for days more about the genuine passion for life, including its ups and downs, laced through each word in her novels, but I encourage you to read them yourself and form your own opinions. I’m pretty sure they’ll be positive!

After we got our books signed and my friend and I left the reading, I told her I felt like crying, but in a good way. I always feel very emotional meeting authors because they are my life’s dream personified, but meeting Toews was more than that for me. Although I did not grow up in a Mennonite family like Toews, I can really relate to the themes of family, expectations, and escape present in her work. I’d told Toews that I love how strong her characters are, but what I really meant was how strong she is. To write about your past takes a lot of courage, and to do so despite familial pressures and society’s norms takes even more courage. I love how strong her characters are, but they are strong because the woman who brings their voice into being has an immeasurable strength of her own. It shone through her words while being interviewed; every breath was genuine and whole. It was an incredible experience to meet her and I’m so thankful for that opportunity.

By Erin