Heather Laltoo Ferguson

Heather Laltoo Ferguson was born in San Fernando, Trinidad in 1951. She grew up in Penal, and went to school in Port-of-Spain.  In 1970, her family emigrated to Canada where she attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, N. B. She eventually made that Province her home, becoming an advertorial writer for a local newspaper in the City of Moncton. In a freelance capacity, she has also worked on writing projects for a number of business organizations across Canada, and in the Caribbean region.

                “My first love was visual art, but typical Trini parents as my parents were, they quickly shut that down with, ‘Wha! You go starve!’  Language and literature then became my second choice.”

                “My foray into poetry and prose first came about in recording my family history in two self-published volumes, The Laltoos of Trinidad, and The Mulchansinghs of Freeport. A collection of poetry entitled, The View from My Armchair contains my poetic wanderings.”

Never far from her first love for the visual arts, Heather still dabbles in artistic creations like tiny scale model building, including a rendition of her former childhood house at Penal which was recently featured on the cover of Trinidad’s Poetry & Prose Anthology, Musings in a Teashop, published by group founder Gershia Mahabir in 2023. “I must give full credit to Poetry & Prose for their support in helping me to find my voice as a storyteller,” says Heather.

Also in 2023, Heather’s Circe’s Dance and Other Stories was published by Middleroad Publishers, and in 2025, Under the Tamarind Tree: A Voice from the Diaspora; Picong, Pelau & Peppersauce, Cascadoo, Crab & Callaloo; The Caribbean Colonial Girls’ School; and Tales from a Roadside Rum Shop were published on Amazon, where they are now reaching readers Globally.

Heather enjoys the short story genre. Here she explores Trini culture, timely expressions in it’s unique dialect; great local characters like the sweet-woman, the saga boy, and the local vagrant; comic situations; and folklore and mystery.

Heather comes from a time of great storytellers before the advent of television usurped the oral tradition of evenings spent on the verandah recounting the day’s events, relaying local gossip, mulling over cautionary tales, and passing on stories of folklore from the village. Always writing, it’s the creative process that most appeals, and living far from her island home has only served to bring her focus and attention to the aspects of life in her homeland that will forever live in her heart.

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