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The Arts Incubator

Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario

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  • Lena’s Strong Game
  • In Bookstores

Lena’s Strong Game

Lena feels her strong body sets her apart. But self-acceptance sparks a game-changing power! Can she help a new friend find confidence in himself too?
Arts Incubator Winnipeg 15 Oct 2025

Short Stories from The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and Art Borups Corners Storytelling Club

What if your greatest strength felt like your biggest secret? Published by the Arts Incubator Winnipeg, Lena’s Strong Game introduces Lena, a soccer star with powerful legs that propel her across the field. But despite her talent, Lena feels deeply self-conscious about her strong body, hiding her legs and holding back her true potential. She longs for thin legs like the other girls, letting shyness dim her otherwise bright game.

Then Rory arrives, a new teammate who also feels shy and is quickly targeted for being different. Witnessing his hurt, Lena sees a reflection of her own struggles with body image and self-worth. Can Lena find the courage to embrace her unique strength, both on and off the field? Will she learn that true power comes from within, and that celebrating your own body can inspire others to do the same?

This inspiring story champions the dignity of the self, reminding young readers that every body is a strong body, and that empathy and self-acceptance are the most powerful plays of all. Perfect for anyone learning to love themselves exactly as they are.

Support Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba Literacy and Publishing: Order Your Books and Short Stories Today

Books, short stories and publications are available in bookstores across Canada, the United States and internationally in outlets such as:

Fable, LaFeltrinelli Internet Bookshop, Palace Marketplace, Rakuten Kobo, Smashwords, Thalia, Vivlio

About the Author

Eva Suluk is an interdisciplinary artist and storyteller whose work is deeply rooted in the land. Her work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. An accomplished hunter, filmmaker, and traditional drum dancer, Eva weaves together the ancient and the modern in her art. She finds her greatest inspiration and stories while spending time on the land, where her hunting adventures and love for her culture guide her creative spirit.

ISBN: 978-1-0698063-7-6

About the Author

Arts Incubator Winnipeg

Arts Incubator Winnipeg

Administrator

The Arts Incubator - Winnipeg is a participatory arts collective and living lab, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. It's a space where innovation and creativity thrive. It's latest iteration was launched in 2021 with funding and support from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse. Today, working with students and faculty from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, we fuse traditional and participatory media arts with artificial intelligence, music, storytelling and community-driven, land-based artist residencies to cultivate new voices and bold ideas. Whether through collaborative projects or immersive experiences, our small but vibrant community supports creators to explore, experiment, and connect. Join us at the intersection of artistry, technology, culture and community—where every moment is a new opportunity to create.

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Tags: Northwestern Ontario Arts SDG 10 SDG 4 Winnipeg Manitoba

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Related News

In this latest edition of Unfinished Tales and Short Stories, author Eva Suluk presents a collection that explores the profound weight of what remains unsaid. Eschewing the comfort of tidy resolutions, these narratives are deliberately unfinished, functioning as invitations for the reader to step into the gaps and become a vital collaborator in the storytelling process. Within these pages, the ephemeral becomes enduring through a shared exploration of memory, emotion, and connection.
  • In Bookstores
  • Reading

Unfinished with Care

Arts Incubator Winnipeg 24 Feb 2026
In Unfinished Notes on Silence and Sound, the third volume of the Unfinished Tales and Short Stories series, Tony Eetak from the Arts Incubator Winnipeg invites readers to inhabit the "gaps"—the quiet pauses, the shrugs, and the lingering moments between days that define the most real parts of our lives. This collection rejects the idea of a clean narrative exit, opting instead to capture the "fragmentary nature of memory" through stories that are purposefully messy. From the "erratic flicker" of city lights to the "ancientness" of a Winnipeg winter that never seems to thaw, Eetak explores the weight of things that remain in pieces.
  • In Bookstores
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Unfinished Notes on Silence and Sound

Arts Incubator Winnipeg 15 Feb 2026
A Collection of Broken Resolutions is a gritty LGBTQ+ slice of life anthology and gay romance collection that explores domestic tension and male vulnerability. These unfinished tales and short stories serve as a contemporary BL response to the quiet isolation of the closeted experience. Centered on young adult themes and New Adult fiction, the book tackles the seasonal tyranny of the holidays, mental health, panic attacks, and the emotional struggle of finding belonging. Perfect for fans of realistic queer fiction, slow burn chemistry, and angsty character studies, this literary collection offers an honest look at men in love, coming out, and the bravery required to be truly seen.
  • In Bookstores
  • Reading

A Collection of Broken Resolutions

Arts Incubator Winnipeg 12 Jan 2026

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C.C Trubiak's latest single “Being Rich” arrives May 17.
Manitoba's own C.C. Trubiak's new single "Being Rich" drops on May 17!

Upcoming Events

The Under $100 Art Show is coming to Winnipeg August 13-16, 2026. Get your tickets now for this amazing event! The Art Spot Canada Under $100 Art Exhibition is coming to Winnipeg, Manitoba this August! ART SPOT was created in 2008 in Calgary to support local emerging artists.  ART SPOT has curated and facilitated over 100 successful art events, including solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, workshops, concerts, body painting competitions, markets, community events and more.

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MANITOBA ARTS PROGRAMS

This platform, our Winnipeg, Manitoba hub and programs have been made possible with support from the Manitoba Arts Council Indigenous 360 Program. We gratefully acknowledge their funding and support in making the work we do possible.

Manitoba Arts Council Indigenous 360 Program

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Arts Incubator was seeded and piloted with strategic arts innovation funding from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse. We thank them for their investment, supporting northern arts capacity building and bringing the arts to life.

Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse Logo

NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO ARTS

This platform, our Northwestern Ontario hub and programs have been made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program. We gratefully acknowledge their funding and support in making the work we do possible.

Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program
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