Andrew Unger

Andrew Unger (born November 8, 1979)[1] is a Canadian novelist and satirist. He is the author of the satirical news website The Unger Review (formerly The Daily Bonnet), as well as the novel Once Removed and the collection The Best of the Bonnet.[2][3]

Andrew Unger
Born (1979-11-08) November 8, 1979
Winnipeg, Manitoba
OccupationWriter
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Manitoba
Period2010s–present
Notable worksOnce Removed, The Best of the Bonnet
Website
andrewunger.com

Career

Before starting the Daily Bonnet, Unger was a contributor to numerous non-fiction publications including Geez, CBC.ca, and Ballast, sometimes publishing under the pen name Andrew J. Bergman.[4][5] Early in his career, he also wrote and published fiction and poetry, as well as working as a ghostwriter for New York-based Kevin Anderson & Associates.[6]

In 2016 Unger founded the Mennonite satirical news website The Daily Bonnet and, along with his wife Erin Koop Unger, the non-satirical website Mennotoba in 2017.[7] Since 2016, Unger has written more than two thousand Daily Bonnet articles.[6] The website has been visited millions of times each year and has been cited in debate in the Manitoba Legislature[8] and used as an example of Mennonite humour in the Canadian House of Commons.[9][10][11]

In 2020 Unger's novel Once Removed was released by Turnstone Press.[12][13] The novel, which tells the story of a struggling writer trying to preserve his town's fading history, won the 2021 Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book and was a finalist for the 2020 Margaret McWilliams Award.[14][15][16]

In late 2021, Unger released a collection of Daily Bonnet articles called The Best of the Bonnet, also published by Turnstone Press.[17]

In 2023, Unger changed the name of The Daily Bonnet to The Unger Review, while maintaining The Daily Bonnet as a section of the website.[18][19]

Writing style

Unger cites Jonathan Swift, Sinclair Lewis, Armin Wiebe, Billy Wilder, and Miriam Toews among his writing influences.[20] His work has been described as Horatian satire by scholar Nathan Dueck and compared to Armin Wiebe and Arnold Dyck by scholar Robert Zacharias.[21]

Personal

The son of a Mennonite minister father and book-keeper mother, Unger was born in Winnipeg in 1979 and lived in Steinbach, Brandon and Calgary as a child before returning to Steinbach as an adult.[22] From his father's side, he is a direct descendant of Kleine Gemeinde founder Klaas Reimer, while his maternal grandfather fled to Canada from the Soviet Union as a refugee in the 1920s.[23]

As a child he turned to satire, drawing political cartoons, particularly of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.[24] Unger attended Providence University College in the late 1990s and holds degrees from the University of Manitoba. He has taught English Language Arts, including satire and creative writing, at Steinbach Regional Secondary School since 2005.[25][26]

Unger lives in Steinbach, Manitoba and is married to Erin Koop Unger, author of Mennotoba.[27]

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Unger successfully advocated for the Manitoba government to create vaccine stickers in the Russian Mennonite dialect of Plautdietsch.[28][29]

References
  1. "Satirical website creator to appear on panel discussion". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  2. Porter, Catherine (March 28, 2019). "Miriam Toews' Mennonite Conscience". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  3. Andrew Unger. "Mennonites are in the spotlight. Is my image-conscious community ready for the attention?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  4. Huber, Tim (July 4, 2016). "Satire news site pokes fun at Mennonite quirks". Mennonite World Review. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  5. Suderman, Brenda (August 13, 2016). "Poking fun from within". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  6. "Write What You Know: The Writing Cliche that is No Lie". Kevin Anderson and Associates. May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  7. Wichers, Geralyn (August 4, 2018). "Website celebrates overlooked elements of Mennonite life". Carillon News. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  8. "Legislative Assembly of Manitoba". Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  9. "House of Commons Debates". Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  10. Cory Funk. "Oh ya! Parliament declares Mennonite Heritage Week". CBC. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. Connor Gerbrandt. "Mennonite Heritage Gets It's [sic] Own Week of Recognition". Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  12. "Center for Mennonite Writing Journal". Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  13. Brenda Suderman. "Satirist puts Mennonite twist on pandemic". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  14. "2021 nominees". Manitoba Book Awards. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  15. "2020 Nominees". Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  16. Ben Sigurdson (May 20, 2021). "Bergen wins book of the year a fourth time". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  17. "Mennonite do have a sense of humour and Andrew Unger's collection proves it". Prairie Books Now. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  18. "The end of an era". Steinbachonline.com.
  19. "The Unger Review Interview". Mennotoba.
  20. "Unger brings debut novel to book club". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  21. The Best of the Bonnet. Turnstone Press. 2021.
  22. Marcy Markusa. "Meet the man behind the popular website "The Daily Bonnet"". CBC.ca. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  23. "How to Research Your Family History and Genealogy". YouTube. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  24. The Best of the Bonnet. Turnstone Press. 2021.
  25. Enns, Lindsey. "Sense of Humour Infects Steinbach Teacher" (PDF). Manitoba Teacher. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  26. Schwartz, Alexandra (March 25, 2019). "A Beloved Canadian Novelist Reckons with Her Mennonite Past". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  27. Wichers, Geralyn (August 4, 2018). "Website celebrates overlooked elements of Mennonite life". Carillon News. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  28. Nancy MacDonald (November 27, 2021). "A Manitoba town, divided on COVID-19 vaccines". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  29. "Low German language printed on Manitoba vaccine stickers". Global News. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
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