Meghan J. Ward is a writer, filmmaker, historian and all-around storyteller based in Banff, Canada (Treaty 7 territory). A fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Meghan has written several books and contributed to anthologies, blogs, award-winning films and some of North America’s top outdoor, fitness and adventure publications. 

Raised in Ottawa, Meghan ventured West to the mountains in 2005 and never looked back. An avid outdoor adventurer with a voracious appetite to understand her surroundings, she has established herself as a mountain historian and an authoritative voice in the Rockies’ outdoor and travel scene. She has authored four Canadian Rockies photo/travel books, which she collaborated on with her husband, Paul Zizka, a celebrated landscape photographer. She is also the author of a children's book, The Wonders That I Find and a travelogue/memoir, Lights to Guide Me Home (September 2022, Rocky Mountain Books). Her documentary film, Wildflowers, premiered at the 2024 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival.

On the side, Meghan co-manages Paul Zizka Photography and acts as a strategic advisor for OFFBEAT Photography Inc. She is also a coach to writers and photographers who are looking for direction and and strategic thinking with brand, business, and project development.

Meghan’s work has worked with such publications and clients as Washington Post Brand Studio, IMPACT Magazine, Canadian Geographic, Mountain Life Rocky Mountains, Outdoor Photographer, Avenue Calgary, Canadian Rockies Annual, Canadian Alpine Journal, Kootenay Mountain Culture, Alpinist.com, Backcountry Magazine, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, Where.ca, Travel Alberta, Tuja Wellness, Banff Lodging Co., and Highline Magazine, where she also served as Editor from 2011 to 2013. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning Canadian Rockies Annual from 2016 to 2021, a magazine she co-founded, which one Best New Magazine at the 2017 Alberta Magazine Awards.

Meghan loves any sport that takes her up a mountain or into the backcountry, and also enjoys travel and photography. Her own adventures have taken her backpacking in the Caribbean, ski touring in the Arctic, climbing throughout The Canadian Rockies and trekking in Nepal. Her travels with her family have so far taken them across Canada and to New Zealand, Niue, French Polynesia, various Hawaiian islands, Belize, Bermuda, Easter Island/Rapa Nui, Ireland, Malta, Costa Rica, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Member:

Writers’ Union of Canada | Writers’ Guild of Alberta

Clients include:

Washington Post Brand Studio, Canadian Geographic, Travel Alberta, Literary Hub, Kootenay Mountain Culture, Mountain Life Rocky Mountains, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, Crowfoot Media Inc., IMPACT Magazine, Banff Lodging Co., Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Outdoor Photographer Magazine, Wild Women Magazine, Alpinist.com and more.

→ View a list of her Publications.

→ Subscribe to her Substack, Field Notes. 📒

→ For more information on education and work experience, please view her LinkedIn Profile.