INSIDER’S GUIDE: 111 Places in Winnipeg weaves a tale of character

Article content

Being a tourist in your own town hits a little different when you’re a travel writer.

Article content

For Winnipeg’s Donna Janke, an inward-looking period led to the wellspring of sights and stories contained in a new book that has her taking on the role of local guide and, when taken as a whole, weaves a tale about the character of the city.

“To me, Winnipeg is a biggish city with a small-town heart. It’s very artistic and creative, and also very resilient — we do put up with extreme weather, amongst other things — and has a strong sense of community,” the author of 111 Places in Winnipeg That You Should Not Miss, said in a recent interview.

“And it can be a little quirky.”

Winnipeg is a late entry into the international series from publisher ACC Art Books with 650 total titles and 3.8 million copies said to be circulating worldwide. The 123-page softcover book, with about half of those pages filled by pictures from Indigenous photographer Gindalee Ouskun, will be available Oct. 30.

Article content

Article content

The series aims to be an insider’s guide for locals and experienced travellers, featuring interesting and unusual places not found in traditional travel tomes.

While it touches down in traditional spots such as Assiniboine Park and The Forks, along with restaurants and cafes, museums and architecture, you can also encounter Arctic wildlife in a back alley and a Naval museum on the Prairies, walk through an abandoned monastery or Hell’s Alley or visit Polehenge.

“When I started the project and first mentioned it to some of the people close to me, some of them said, ‘111 Places? How are you ever going to find that many?’ It actually wasn’t that hard. I’m pretty certain I’m going to start getting questions, ‘Well, why didn’t you include this, why didn’t you include that?’”

Article content

Janke offers that there are really 222 Places, as each spot includes a tip on another place nearby or one that is thematically related.

Born in Morris, the 70-year-old moved to the capital city to attend university as has lived here since. She’s heard the negativity that many have of the city — which she sums up as “I was born here, why are you here?” — but said the year-plus effort was nothing but positive.

“It reinforced a lot of things. I was delighted that when I spoke to people I found so much passion in what they were doing, so much focus on community, and so much creativity and resilience. So it was actually a very positive, hopeful project to do.”

Article content