Books published by Great Plains Publications Ltd

Finalist, Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-FictionFinalist, Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher With a foreword by Beatrice Mosionier. Abandonment, loss, endless transitions, self-reliance, continued persistence, and fierce beauty all coexist in this compelling collection of stories of ten women who journey from victims of the child welfare system to survivors, and beyond. These women face endless challenges, oppression, and trauma but discover their power through creativity, self-awareness, education, motherhood, and extreme empathy. They decipher their personal stories looking back through the lens of their lived experience to contribute to changing the narratives of how people who grew up in in the child welfare system see themselves, and how society sees them. These stories create compassion and understanding, breaking down biases. They also illustrate the direct and multi-faceted relationships between residential schools, the breakdown of Indigenous families, the perpetuated system racism of of the child welfare system and oppression through other societal systems. Many of these women are the voices of those who could have been murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls but have lived to tell their stories. Embracing their humanity, their courageous sharing teaches and informs us. These heartbreaking and inspiring stories will educate and create change.

"Amid these magical realist happenings and horror motifs, Brief Life is a small-town coming-of-age story that explores family and community secrets, social status, and how teenage girls discover the world through trial and error, as well as books. Whittle is filled with puzzling people and events; it contains mysterious multitudes that are worth trying to decipher." - Literary Review of Canada Returning to some of the characters first introduced in his award-winning novel The Green-Eyed Queen of Suicide City to tell a unique and all-new tale, Kevin Marc Fournier's Brief Life is the story of a fraught but lifelong friendship; the chronicle of a small town with a bizarre and tangled history; a multi-generational family saga of ghosts, dreams, visions, and visitations, of strange dogs, secret magic, and mysterious disappearances; a maze of funhouse mirrors, grotesque, poignant, and fantastical.

In The Lucky Ones: African Refugees' Stories of Extraordinary Courage, Anne Mahon presents a collection of personal accounts of heartbreaking loss, extraordinary bravery, and the resilience needed to begin again in a new country. Candidly told in their own words, the subjects reveal the uplifting truth of their unbreakable human spirit. A wide assortment of men and women ranging in age from four to 73 represent a variety of African countries and backgrounds. Their compelling stories span from experiences in their African birth countries to their new home in Manitoba. These inspiring insights?challenge assumptions and encourage understanding.? All author proceeds from the sale of this book will go to micro-lending opportunities and post-secondary scholarships for the African community of Manitoba.

The stories in Vermin are linked by themes of loss, longing and music: a restaurant server in a Tofino restaurant reflects on the nature of men in her past and present; a woman prepares to marry a brooding artist unpopular with both her parents and her small town community; a new homeowner has strange encounters with a previous owner who is struggling to let go. Stories in this collection have appeared in Joyland, The Saturday Evening Post, Room, The Antigonish Review and other journals and anthologies.

Nominated for the Forest of Reading White Pine Award! Shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award! Eugenia Grimm is a tough girl living in a tough town at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She drinks and fights and pushes against expectations. She is also hurting: after her father died by suicide, her older brothers drifted away and her mother up and left. After a last-straw violent incident and faced with the possibility of incarceration, she is sentenced to time at an Intensive Support and Supervision Program located at a remote mountain ranch. There, she begins to make connections, explore difficult truths, and might even turn things around--until a series of events pull her into a dark spiral she may not have the strength to resist. "[T]he characters - therapists and troubled youth alike - have an inviting combination of snarkiness and depth." - Quill & Quire "...many serious themes are woven into the story, but there is also the wonderful appreciation of what can be achieved if only people are given the time, encouragement and incentive to work out their problems and improve their lives." - CM Magazine