Verena Berger

I was enchanted by books and the art of story telling from the first Brother Grimm story Grandma read to me. Growing up in Switzerland, I was also taught to save money and keep a bank account, not to make any noise between noon and two in the afternoon, and never to hang laundry outside on a Sunday. I was told we had the nicest mountains and the best chocolate in the world.

At twenty-two, I followed my boyfriend half around the world, immigrating to British Columbia. Quickly I realized, in Canada, different and fewer rules apply; there are beautiful mountains here too, however, the Swiss do make the best chocolate.

Swiss German is my mother tongue, French my second language. Thus, I started working in Vancouver with a dictionary in my pocket. My vocabulary evolved with our life-chapters, which were: traveling, hobby farming, clerical jobs and parenting. Our two children were introduced to Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland as well as some of my own character creations.

Thirty years after my move to this country, and after many English classes, I still have a slight accent that I accept as my uniqueness. When our two children moved out, I began submitting my stories and decided to become a freelance writer. Most of my creative nonfiction work is about immigrating, integrating and becoming Canadian. My pieces are published throughout North America, and Europe.

When I am not writing, I like talking about it. My workshops, with power point presentations, include hands-on activities and are suitable for adults as well as high school students.