Tanya Bellehumeur - Allatt

  • Home
  • About
    • Interviews
  • Publications
  • Books
  • Contact Me

Carrying War

Available now from Dundurn Press

Instead of letting fear rule her life, Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt found ways to overcome it.

Terrorism first intersected Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt’s life in 1982 when she was twelve years old and living in Israel. Its shadow loomed closer when her family moved to Beirut at the height of the Lebanese Civil War to accompany her father on his United Nations peacekeeping mission. That was forty years ago. But the aftershock, the trauma, and the imprint of terror remain. In these narrative essays, the reader moves from the Middle East to Europe, from Quebec’s Eastern Townships to Yellowknife in a personal exploration of terror — psychic, criminal, spiritual, and political. The journey is challenging, yet it carries both redemption and hope.

When asked how to defeat terrorism, Salman Rushdie answered, “Don’t be terrorized. Don’t let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.” The essays in Carrying War are about one woman’s lifelong struggle with fear and the ways she has found to overcome it.

Share this:

  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • More
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr

Reviews

“The writing is almost lyrical. It is a beautiful thing”
—Toby A. Welch /SaskBooks


“Her writing is on point, allowing us to travel with her. And it’s engrossing: we keep turning the pages, wanting to know more.”
—Yara El-Soueidi, Montreal Review of Books


“It’s quite a feat to couple the chaos of the Middle East with the chaos of adolescence.”
—Bronwyn Drainie, Literary Review of Canada


“In Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt’s hands, words become anything but ordinary—from the scent of lindens along a lakeshore, the imprint of wings on snow, to her father’s last winter on earth, the serious business of living. Poems both fearless and humble. Tenderly, forcefully, they influence our lives.”
—Susan Musgrave, author of Hunger


“Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt returns in memory to her early adolescence with her peacekeeper father in
war-torn 1980s Beirut, and with honesty and courage traces the legacy of terror in her life and the lives of loved ones and strangers. Each of these thirty-two essays illuminates the psychic consequences of trauma from a different angle, adding up to a multi-faceted portrait of a woman whose personal history won’t let her ignore the costs of societal violence. Thoughtful, compassionate, and
relevant, Carrying War is an eloquent plea for  peace, and a testament to human resilience and the
healing power of art.”
—Susan Olding, author of Big Reader

Photography credit: Emma Allatt

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2026 · Market theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2026 · Market Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.