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The Writing on the Wind's Wall

The Writing on the Wind's Wall

Dialogues about 'Medical Assistance in Dying'

By Kevin Andrew Heslop

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, a retiree living with dementia, 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 retired physician, a death doula, an administering doctor self-described as a “first follower,” the son of a MAiD recipient, a MAiD-eligible artist, differing Anglican priests, a parliamentary proponent, 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).

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.

This book is available for pre-order.

Details

Guernica Editions (Essential Essays)

978-1-77849-147-4

200 pages |

$19.00 USD
$19.00 USD
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Reviews

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

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

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

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

The Writing on the Wind's Wall is a gift of essential and diverse voices on the subject of MAiD.

David Diamond, Founder of Theatre for Living and author of Theatre for Living: The Art & Science of Community-Based Dialogue

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

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

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 Wind’s Wall 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

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

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Awards

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About the author

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