Former Haida Gwaii Observer journalist Heather Ramsay returned to the islands this month to launch her debut novel, A Room in the Forest, with readings in Daajing Giids and Masset. The coming-of-age story follows 19-year-old Lily, who trades a dead-end job in her father’s Alberta furniture store for a new life in the forests of Haida Gwaii. But what begins as a search for belonging becomes more complicated when a group of tree planters she meets on the way questions her assumptions about whose land she is entering.
Ramsay, who lived on Haida Gwaii for ten years, said the novel is deeply influenced by her own experiences in northern and Indigenous communities, as well as her lifelong interest in place, belonging and identity.
“In A Room in the Forest, Heather Ramsay invites readers on a profound journey of self-discovery set against the breathtaking backdrop of Haida Gwaii’s ancient landscapes,” said Huux̱ Percy Crosby. “Prepare to be captivated by a tale that is as much about finding one’s place in the world as it is about the transformative power of the wilderness.”
The book was launched on Haida Gwaii before Ramsay continued her tour with stops in Chilliwack, Victoria, Abbotsford, Calgary, Quesnel, Prince George, Smithers, Terrace and Prince Rupert. She appeared alongside fellow writers including Al Rempel, Adrienne Fitzpatrick, Daniela Elza, Leanne Boschman, Connie Braun, Taryn Hubbard and Emma Jarrett.
Books at the Daajing Giids event were available through 3rd Avenue Books. In Calgary, Shelf Life Books hosted the event. Ramsay handled book sales at all other locations.
A Room in the Forest was published by Caitlin Press and is distributed by the University of Toronto Press. It is available through independent bookstores and retailers across Canada.
Ramsay now lives and writes in Chilliwack, on unceded Ts’elxwéyeqw territory. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, and her work has appeared in The Fiddlehead, The Antigonish Review, Numero Cinq, and Canadian Geographic. She also co-wrote two publications for the Haida Gwaii Museum: Gina ’Waadluxan Tluu: The Everything Canoe and gyaaGang.ngaay: The Monumental Poles of Skidegate.
