Almost Feral

On July 2, 2015, Hickey began a 908-kilometre walk across the island of Newfoundland to raise awareness and funds for survivors of religious institutional abuse.

Almost Feral celebrates the community of support that gathered around this journey and recounts Hickey's remarkable story of self-discovery which led to the realization that they are transgender. In this thought-provoking and wide-ranging autobiography, Hickey counters memories of sexual assault, bullying, and depression with inspiring reflections on faith, love, family, individual and communal identity, sex, gender, and acceptance.

Through complex feelings of empathy and solitude, weakness and strength, suffering and recovery, Gemma Hickey's Almost Feral chronicles a journey from one side of an island to the other side of personal identity — charting an unknown territory where one's body becomes the map that leads to home. (From Breakwater Books)

Hickey is a writer and activist based in St. John's. Almost Feral is their first book.

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Why Gemma Hickey wrote Almost Feral

"I got to a point on the road when I spent those long hours of solitude on the shoulder of the Trans Canada Highway where I thought I've had enough of that. I am who I am and I fully embraced myself, good and bad. 

I felt so incredibly whole again.- Gemma Hickey

"I felt so incredibly whole again. It was as if I walked from one side of the island to the other side of myself. It was an incredible journey."

Read more in their interview with The Next Chapter.

Interviews with Gemma Hickey

Canadian abuse survivors at Vatican summit

4 years ago

Duration 5:14

Gemma Hickey of Newfoundland and Labrador was among those attending a conference on abuse against minors in the Catholic Church.

The Next Chapter13:49Gemma Hickey on Almost Feral

Activist Gemma Hickey on their memoir Almost Feral, about an epic walk across Newfoundland that was life-changing.