Manitoban Author Armin Wiebe says his newest book Armin's Shorts is a collection of short stories that have been written over the past 36 years.

Wiebe recently published Armin's Shorts and came to the Jake Epp Library on Tuesday to Launch the book, answer questions and read excerpts from the book. Wiebe says he enjoys presenting his works to the public and hearing their responses.

“That is one of the fun things about publishing, is going around and doing readings and meeting readers and hearing an audiences response immediately, and hearing what people tell you what your books have meant to them.”

Wiebe says Armin's Shorts is a collection of 25 short stories that have never been published in any of his books. He says the stories have been written over the last 36 years so readers will be able to see what his very early writing was like and how it compares to his most recent writing. Wiebe says most of the stories have been featured in magazines or anthologies in the past and this is his way of making them all available in one place.

“I would from time to time, at an event, read from a story that appeared in a magazine or an anthology. I would read part of a story and then people would ask 'where can I read the rest of it?' and it would be some obscure journal that would have to be tracked down, and would be hard to get and so I thought why not share them.”

Wiebe says many of the shorts have a Mennonite Background but there are also stories that have nothing to do with the Mennonite Culture. He says though some of his stories are set in real locations, even though many of his characters are inspired by people he has met, all of his pieces are purely fiction. He notes it is enjoyable to write stories set here in Western Canada.

“It is still somewhat of a new experience for us in Western Canada, it hasn't been happening for that long. As readers we sometimes find that hard to get used to. On the other hand why shouldn't we read about our own world as well as other peoples worlds. We have stories here in Manitoba that are just as good as any stories that come out of New York or L.A.”