Ben Sigurdson

Winnipeg

Literary Editor and Wine Columnist at Winnipeg Free Press

This account is now dormant (I'm elsewhere w/the same handle). Literary editor and drinks writer, Winnipeg Free Press. party ruiner. He/him.

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Articles

Fantasy-adjacent historical fiction finds fans worldwide

2 days ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

It’s difficult to neatly categorize Guy Gavriel Kay’s published work of the last 35 years — and that’s just the way he likes it. The Saskatchewan-born, Winnipeg-raised Kay, now 70, was studying at the University of Manitoba when he was enlisted by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher to help edit his late father’s unpublished work, The Silmarillion, in Oxford, England.
Opinion: Drink makers show off best, latest at festivals

1 week ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

As summer proper looms, people start thinking about taking vacations, heading to the lake and just generally getting away from it all. But before we get to the lazy, hazy (too hazy!), crazy days of July and August, June brings a whole bevy of beverage-related events for fans of wine, beer and cocktails. Good Neighbour Brewing Co. (110 Sherbrook St.) has once again teamed up with the Winnipeg Humane Society for the Pets on Pints campaign.
Opinion: Time for ABC crowd to return to Chardonnay

3 weeks ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Every year near the end of May, Chardonnay lovers around the world raise a glass in celebration of the noblest of noble white wine grapes as part of World Chardonnay Day, which this year takes place on Thursday. Here in Canada, the festivities will look a little different as Chardonnays from south of the border will be largely absent from our glasses.
Opinion: Manitoba producers win drinks awards — plus six brews, many fruit-infused, to enjoy in the heat

4 weeks ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Manitoba producers picked up some hardware at global drinks competitions in the past weeks. On May 1, the World Beer Cup doled out awards in a range of categories at a ceremony in Indianapolis, Ind. Winnipeg’s Nonsuch Brewing Co. was one of nine Canadian breweries (and the only Manitoba producer) to nab an award — a bronze medal for its Baltic porter.
Percival Everett’s novel James adds Pulitzer Prize to trophy case

4 weeks ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Paper Chase By: Ben Sigurdson Posted: 2:00 AM CDT Saturday, May.
Award-winning writer brings experimental novel to Winnipeg

4 weeks ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Fans of Madeleine Thien’s writing could be excused for feeling impatient about the author’s followup to her bestselling novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing. The novel, published in 2016, won the Montreal author the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction and landed on the short list for the Booker Prize. The nine-year gap was worth the wait.
Opinion: Warmer weather, cooler wines

1 month ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

With the mercury climbing in earnest this weekend, it’s as good a time as ever to shift gears from heartier, more robust wines to warm-weather sippers — which doesn’t necessarily mean ditching red wines altogether. Recent trends have seen a growing number of wineries producing lighter, fruit-driven and lower-tannin reds that are often best served at least slightly chilled.
New novel by former first lady of Iceland

1 month ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Former first lady of Iceland launches new mystery novel By: Ben Sigurdson Posted: 2:00 AM CDT Saturday, May.
Lubrin lands Carol Shields fiction prize

1 month ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

Paper Chase By: Ben Sigurdson Posted: 2:00 AM CDT Saturday, May. 3, 2025 Whitby, Ont.-based author Canisia Lubrin has won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000 (around $207,000), for her short-story collection Code Noir.
Author tidies Molly Gray’s backstory in Maid series

1 month ago | winnipegfreepress.com | Ben Sigurdson

For the better part of 20 years, Nita Prose was part of the publishing industry, working her way up to vice-president and editorial director of Simon & Schuster Canada. Then Molly Gray entered her life. Prose introduced Molly, maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, to the world in her 2022 mystery novel The Maid, which became a runaway international bestseller. Molly returned in 2023’s The Mystery Guest and then in Prose’s holiday-themed novella The Mistletoe Mystery in December 2024.