I walk down Portage to the University of Winnipeg not knowing quite what to expect from this event. I’m in the middle of reading Rudy Wiebe’s book Peace Shall Destroy Many (which I’d heavily recommend) my first exposure to the work of a real “Mennonite” fiction writer. I met a few big-name Mennonite writers yesterday at an evening of readings: Rudy Wiebe, Patrick Friesen, Sarah Klassen, and David Bergen. These authors tuned me into some “Mennonite issues”.
The most interesting part for me is the panel and roundtable discussion on “The Future of Mennonite Writing.” Many of these writers were shunned to varying extents by their families and friends due to their brutally truthful, offensive material about Mennonite life. Several of them make a point of saying how they have left the church, and sometimes their faith altogether. I’m getting that writing yourself out of your community is part of what it means to be a Mennonite writer.
The discussion centers on the connection between pain and suffering and good writing. Rudy Wiebe poses the question of how Mennonite writing could have a future in a time when Mennonites in North America are quite well-off and aren’t subjected to the same anguish as to in the past. I immediately wonder why we assume we have to be suffering in order to express ourselves. I appreciate a later comment, which gives the assurance that we will find enough suffering simply in living life and in that we could “be encouraged” and not lament the temporary absence of it!
A prominent Mennonite businessman then got up to make the obviously volatile suggestion that perhaps the next generation of Mennonite writing should branch out and start focusing on a Mennonite perspective of the world in general. What he's suggesting is that instead of making a career out of writing about what has been hurtful and inane about small town Mennonite life, we need to “live into” and embrace new topics, writing from the strengths of the Mennonite community, realizing its flaws but affirming all that is good about it.
This comment draws a stark reply from Patrick Friesen, who asserts that writers should never be told what they should write about, that writing should arise organically, and so on. It’s rather sad that Friesen knocked the discussion down before it had started, because a very valid point was made: how long will there be an audience for Mennonites complaining about the oppression of their upbringing! We need to “live into” our churches and our communities, inviting others in and “sharing the love”. Perhaps too much of our energy has been spent lamenting the past in what could be considered our own selfish way.
