Manawaka is a fictional town in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, frequently used as a setting in novels and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

. The town was based on Laurence's real-life hometown of

Neepawa Neepawa is a town in Manitoba, Canada located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with Highway 5. its population was 5,685. Neepawa was incorporated as a town in 1883. It is bordered by the Municipality of North Cypress – Langford and ...

, and should not be confused with the real-life town of Maniwaki, Quebec. The town is also used in Daniel Poliquin's novel ''L'écureuil noir''. The Manawaka sequence consists of the books '' The Stone Angel'', '' A Jest of God'', ''

The Fire-Dwellers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'', '' A Bird in the House'', and '' The Diviners''.McArthur, Douglas (March 30, 1994). "Neepawa, Manitoba: Home on the prairie with Margaret Laurence: Those who take the detour off the Trans-Canada will find fictional Manawaka, the scene in five classic novels, is a real place", '' The Globe and Mail'', p. D1.

References

Fictional populated places in Canada Manitoba in fiction {{Manitoba-stub