Steinbach home of Miriam Toews to be recognized after quick fundraising campaign

A plaque will be erected to celebrate author Miriam Toews, originally from Steinbach, thanks to funds donated by the community. 

Andrew Unger, who set up the GoFundMe, is looking forward to celebrating the award-winning and best-selling author. 

“Not only is she a well-known writer internationally, but she also has written specifically about Steinbach and the house that we're putting the plaque in front of, so it's very exciting.” 

He had the goal of raising $1,500, most of which was raised in the first 24 hours.

"It was three days since I launched it, but I didn't even post it on social media until a day ago. I tapped some shoulders of some people, but within a day we basically had all the money," he says. "She has a lot of supporters, and most of the money was coming from Steinbach specifically, so it's local people who are fans and supporters of her.  

Unger says he has been trying for a long time to find a way to honour Miriam Toews within Steinbach. 

“She's won all these awards and received recognition elsewhere, but here in the community, I thought ‘there's gotta be something that we can do,’ so this opportunity came along and I'm really excited that so many local people are supporting this.” 

He says it is great to see the community come together to celebrate Toews and her accomplishments. 

“She's an inspiration for me as a writer, as a reader and lover of literature.” 

Unger says he was thrilled when he discovered that the current owners of the house were keen to have a plaque put up. 

“I believe that they actually bought the house knowing that she had lived there, and that sealed the deal for them.” 

Unger's favourite book by Miriam Toews is A Complicated Kindness. 

"Which is her teen angst novel I guess you could say. That was a real inspiration for me, her incorporation of real-life Southern Manitoba details, plus humor and commentary about our culture, I thought was really well done in that book.” 

Now that they have the funds, Unger hopes to have the plaque installed as soon as possible.