Local publishing house travels to Malawi for rat roasting stories

Kathryn Kautz, contributing/title author of How I shot My Brother and Other Stories reads her story at the book launch on Saturday in Stony Plain.

There were lots of warm hugs and congratulatory clinking of wine glasses on Saturday as the Prairie Dog Publishing House celebrated the launching of its very first publication How I Shot My Brother and Other Stories.

Many supporters and fans showed up to the book launch at the KaRaR Dance Studio in Stony Plain where they had a chance to meet all the contributing authors and even hear a couple of excerpts from the book, one of which included Kathryn Kautz, the author of the title story “How I Shot My Brother.”

For Kautz, it wasn’t just the decadent appetizers and the wine that was getting to her head, but also the instant fame. She said she was “tickled” and “honoured” to have been printed.

“I think it’s going to get to my head – people coming for autographs and my brother (the one I shot) was here,” said an overwhelmed Kautz. “People have been asking for his autograph as well and he has been signing, ‘I survived.’”

With the success of their first publication, the founders of Prairie Dog Publishing House are already moving on to their next project. While How I Shot My Brother and Other Stories showed the heart and humour of the local authors, the next launch promises to do the same, except the stories will come from a distant village school of Malawi, Africa.

According to co-founder and editor in chief for the local publishing house, Roberta Laurie, their next anthology will come directly from a group of Malawian schoolgirls.

The idea for this anthology came when Laurie went to Malawi to research her own book that’s based on a Malawi woman who happens to be these girls’ teacher.

Laurie said she was personally touched by their life stories.

“In Malawi, particularly in the villages, girls are not encouraged to continue their education,” she explained. “Sometimes they are forced into marriage. Education is thought of as a waste of time for girls.”

After spending countless hours editing the last project and having many debates, Laurie and her publishing partners finally decided to brave this next one.

When she approached the girls to write stories on their experiences, whether good or bad, she was surprised to find that most of them were about receiving gifts that are seemingly trivial for many but big for the girls. Receiving something as simple as a pencil as a gift was a rare thing for these girls.

After a certain point, Laurie didn't have any more stories about receiving gifts. That’s when all the other interesting stories started coming out, like hunting a rat with your brother and roasting it for dinner.

“Their stories are so charming and just empowering. They were just full of surprises,” she said. “This is a little window into their lives.

Laurie said the book will be used as a tool to raise money for the girls’ school, the Atsikana Pa Ulendo School. She said the book will not only help the school, but also give the girls a voice, and a boost of confidence, both of which are mantras of the publishing house.

“At Prairie Dog Publishing we are taking one project at a time. I have no interest in doing a whole bunch of books. It has to be something that’s special, something that has real meaning,” she added.

The release date for the next anthology, the name of which is yet to be determined, is expected to be next spring.