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Writer

Heather’s writing has evolved from observing and analysing society to looking inward to her own story and using that to guide her, weaving the personal into the larger narratives.

While focussing on books, Heather has also written magazine articles and opinion pieces in such newspapers as the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen and the online Rabble.ca.

 As a descendent of a treaty that entitled my father’s people to ‘settle’ in Upper Canada, I am now taking on that heritage.

I’ve been learning through reading and reviewing books, including No Surrender and Land and Power, and also by seeking out the Indigenous descendants of that treaty, and listening to their stories, including of the 1995 Ipperwash tragedy.

The search for connection has permeated my work as well, first in an essay, ”When roots grow back into the earth”  about planting trees at an abandoned family farm.  

Next, in a book, Enter Mourning, about reconnecting with my mother so I could be truly with her as she declined with dementia and died.

And, more recently, participating in the Paddle the Peace  to affirm the Indigenous connection to the land of Treaty 8, and now engaged in at least the initial phases of treaty renewal: acknowledging wrongs, apologizing and supporting ways to make amends and to heal the disconnect.

Heather Menzies’ Books Include

Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good

2014

Winner of the Ottawa Book Award. Endorsed by Noam Chomsky and David Suzuki.

Enter Mourning: A Memoir on Death, Dementia and Coming Home

2009

A Globe and Mail ‘Best Book’

No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life

2005

Winner of the Ottawa Book Award; a Globe and Mail ‘Best Book.’