Overview

A book about Canadian democracy today disguised as a hometown euthanasia symposium, The Writing on the Wind's Wall: Dialogues about 'Medical Assistance in Dying' definitively answers these questions: How did current MAiD law come about? Who is eligible to receive MAiD? How exactly is MAiD administered? To whom? Where? Why? But to answer what MAiD is comes a community of voices, including: a disabled media-studies scholar, an ethicist, a psychiatrist, a widow, a medium, the province's first MAiD-administrating doctor, a dead recipient in dialogue through a medium with his widow, a non-profit opponent of euthanasia, a retiree living with dementia, a death doula, an administering doctor self-described as a ""first follower,"" the son of a MAiD recipient, a parliamentary proponent, differing Anglican priests, and a hospice provider. From the home of the largest university-hospital network in southwestern Ontario, son of London, Ontario Kevin Andrew Heslop, himself twice touched by MAiD, here agnostically presents a counterbalanced chandelier of mutually illuminating votive candles in honour of his late grandmother, Fern Doreen Heslop (February 6, 1934-February 8, 2025). Available on February 6, 2026--also the anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada's consequential ruling--this book exemplifies Guernica Editions' founding commitment ""to publish books that address social justice issues, discover and cultivate our innate humanity, and transcend individual cultures and nations."" Because The Writing on the Wind's Wall aspires to journalism, the author's 25% share of every sale will go straight to the independent, not-for-profit, Canadian news station CHCO-TV.

Full Product Details

9781778491474

Table of Contents

Reviews

'The Writing on the Wind's Wall' invites us to contemplate, simultaneously, resistance and connection. Through conversation and dialogue, Heslop presents dimensional glimpses of MAiD through the diverse voices and stories of those closest to it. The Writing on the Winds Walls is a book worthy of returning to, again and again, as a window to both reflection and discovery.--Dr. Alissa Centivany, author of Values, Ethics and Participatory Policymaking in Online Communities The Writing on the Wind's Wall is Kevin Andrew Heslop's elegy to mortality and agency, asking what remains when life is chosen to cease and what is written between the lines of goodbye.--Tim Kelly, MSW RSW The Writing on the Wind's Wall compassionately engages the challenging topic of euthanasia and the sociopolitical realities that inform it. Heslop is gifted at holding space for a diversity of voices, bearing witness to the struggle and humanity in each. --Jennifer Chesnut, Environmental Educator The Writing on the Wind's Wall is a gift of essential and diverse voices on the subject of MAiD. --David Diamond, Former Artistic Director of Theatre for Living If there is a greater humanity to be pursued than the one contained in this moving and profound book, I haven't seen it. --Dr. Joel Faflak, FRSC, Robert and Ruth Lumsden Professor, Department of English, University of Western Ontario In the black-and-white polarized debate on MAiD, through coverage ranging from the matter-of-fact to the metaphysical, this book invites an experiential reflection on the greys. --Dr. Madeline Li, Professor of Psychiatry, University Health Network, Clinician scientist in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Princess Margaret Hospital Like Charon escorting us between the realms, here Kevin Heslop is our generous guide, ensuring that our thinking is lacking in neither breadth nor depth--an antidote to absolutism. --Ben Robinson, author of As Is and The Book of Benjamin The true value of this book emerges as one finishes reading: it reminds us that we are, first and foremost, a human community--not merely conditions, statistics, or illnesses to be solved. This is essential reading for anyone touched by the complexities of MAiD. --Olaf Plotske, Co-founder of the Canadian Society for Disability and Oral Health 'Authenticity' has become a much abused term in philosophical (and also pseudo-philosophical) discourse, and in many different types of public discourse. However, here I don't have another term to substitute for it. Voices, issues, perspectives in this book do have a direct, authentic, free and informative resonance, colour, depth. This is a book that introduces complex and at times difficult subjects related to the fragility and perils of our human condition with the proper balanced, empathetic, interested, sober, undramatic, respectful and inquisitive perspective.--Dr. Marcelo Lima, author of On Guy Debord At once, a thoughtful glimpse into the myriad of perspectives and considerations of MAiD and a moving tribute to the complexities of what it is to be human.--Leslie Putnam, Artist and Education Facilitator If anyone has researched a timely topic more than Heslop has, I'm unaware of it. He conjures the questions many would be uneasy to ask. The Writing on the Wind's Wall is a study in mortal experience unlike anything else before it.--Andreas Gripp, author of Trigger-Happy Warnings Kevin Heslop brings a poet's discerning attention and his gift for genuine community building to these interviews--personal stories that resonate deeply and, through a range of lenses, thoughtfully illuminate the inherent and complex tensions in MAiD.--Karen Schindler, publisher of Baseline Press These are timely and important conversations about the complicated ethics and logistics of death and dying.--Dr. Madeline Bassnett, author of Climate Change Cookery: Recipes and Resilience in England's Little Ice Age This collection presents a wide range of compelling, frequently opposed views on and experiences of MAiD, requiring us to sit with the unreconciled differences that compose our democracy. It is a crucial resource.--Dr. Shelly Harder, DPhil, University of Oxford This compelling work allows one to cultivate and expand awareness of MAiD by touching with the experiences and feelings of individuals who present a wide and diverse sampling of encounters and involvement.--Jim Easton, Past President of the Optimist Club of Oakridge Acres You would hope that, traversing these 17 or so interviews, one comes to the end with clarity 'about' MAID. And you would have hoped in vain. The uncompromising attentiveness of the questions and the uncompromising articulation of the answers leads us deeper and deeper into a sort of Tintamarre, a whirling rhythm section of non-knowing. And yet, you learn so so much.--Dr. Karen Houle, author of Responsibility, Complexity, and Abortion and The Grand River Watershed

Author Information

Kevin Andrew Heslop (b. 1992, Canada) is a theatre-trained poet. He works in film and television.

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