Biography and Writing of Miriam Toews
Author of A Complicated Kindness and More
Author of A Complicated Kindness and The Flying Troutman, Miriam Toews published her first book in 1996, and since then, has gone on to become a big name in both Canadian fiction and nonfiction. Her writing is light hearted and witty at times but poignant and powerful at others. This combination makes for excellent writing as is evident in her success.
Her Life
Miriam Toews (pronounced ‘Taves’) was born in 1964 in Manitoba, Canada. She gained her post secondary education at the University of Manitoba in film studies and the University of King’s College in Halifax in journalism. Before becoming an acclaimed author, she worked as a freelance newspaper and radio journalist.
Toews grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba and currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is of Mennonite decent, a fact that plays a critical role in her most esteemed book, A Complicated Kindness.
Her Works
Toews’ first book, Summer of my Amazing Luck, was published by Turnstone Press in 1996 followed by A Boy of Good Breeding in 1998 by Vintage Canada. Her first nonfiction book, Swing Low: A Life, uncovers the dark past of her father who suffered from lifelong depression.
In 2004 Toews made her breakthrough with A Complicated Kindness, which won numerous awards and remained on the bestseller list for many months. This work of fiction follows Nomi, a teenager from a Mennonite community through the highs and lows of adolescence.
It wasn’t until 2008 that Toews released her latest book, The Flying Troutman, which follows a family road trip from Manitoba to California. Critics have suggested that The Flying Troutman combines the dysfunctional humor of The Royal Tennenbaums and Little Miss Sunshine into one epic fictional tale.
As well as writing, Toews made her acting debut in Luz Silenciosa, a 2007 Mexican film for which she was nominated for Best Actress by Mexican Ariel Awards.
Her Awards
Toews’ works have been nominated for and have received several different awards. A Complicated Kindness was nominated for the Giller Prize and won The Governor General’s Award for Fiction as well as the Canada Reads 2006 competition.
Summer of my Amazing Luck was nominated for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor and won the John Hirsh Award. A Boy of Good Breeding won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and Swing Low: A Life also picked up the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non Fiction.
Her latest work, The Flying Troutman won the Roger’s Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize.
A Complicated Kindness
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