Author Sonia Birch-Jones Nominated for Qualicum Citizen of the Year

Sonia Birch-Jones, current resident of Qualicum B.C. has been nominated as Citizen of the Year. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Feburary 20 2008.

Sonia originally is from South Wales, born in Pontypridd in the Rhondda valley. Now she lives in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island- very different from Ponty as the Welsh call it.

At the young age of 86-she has just signed on to instruct a Writers' Workshop for seniors interested in writing their memoirs or even fiction. This is her second writers workshop-the first resulted in a book titled Times Remembered.

"I loved the interaction of the people who took the workshop and the enthusiasm and skills they developed in their writing." States Mrs. Birch-Jones, "I didn't really begin writing until I was 48 when I was the Director of Alumni at the University of Victoria. Divorced and in the marital twilight zone I was seeking something to keep me occupied. The School of Creative Writing at UVIC was offering courses. I decided to take one but found it disappointing. One day I was talking to a journalist friend Bill Thomas who had read one of my short stories. He asked if I'd be interested in sitting in on a Masters Program in Creative Writing which was given by Rain Skelton, a brilliant poet, writer, teacher who was head of the school. There were only three students on that course, and Robin agreed that I could audit it. What an experience. The students, including my friend Bill (as Welsh as I was) studied with Robin for two years and during that time I wrote my first published story. Later Robin published several of my stories in The Malahat Review a famed international journey edited by him."

It was also Bill who inspired Sonia's first book A FIRST CLASS FUNERAL (Oolichan Press). A Globe and Mail critic once described one of Mrs. Birch-Jones' stories as "one which de Maupassant would envy"