Former Vancouver Island University Dean Carol Matthews was among 14 British Columbians awarded the Order of British Columbia in September of 2012.

Carol Matthews' debut collection of fiction, Incidental Music (Oolican 2007), consists of seven linked stories about several couples, mainly Tannis and her husband Stephen, as they cope with aging and abandonment, buoyed by the consolations of maturity and a lasting union. Music also connects the lives of Matthews' characters.

Born in Vancouver, Carol Matthews has worked as a hospital social worker, as Executive Director of Nanaimo Family Life and as an instructor and dean at Malaspina University-College, where she has continued as an Honorary Research Associate. As of 2010, she was retired as Dean of Instruction, Human Services Programs and Community Education at Vancouver Island University.

Her first book, The First Three Years of a Grandmother's Life (Ryerson, 2006), is a collection of her quarterly columns from Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, written from her perspective as a grandmother, and self-illustrated.

Her short story, "The Boat, as it Happened" won Prism International's2017 Jacob Zilber Prize for Short Fiction.

Matthews was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013. The medal is given to people who have dedicated themselves to service to their fellow citizens, their community and their country.

BOOKS:

The First Three Years of a Grandmother's Life (Ryerson, 2006). $15.95

Incidental Music (Oolican 2007). $21.95

Reflections on the C-Word (Hedgerow, 2007) $16.95 978-0-973688-25-2

Dog Days: Between the Lines (Hamilton 2010)
by Carol Matthews and Liza Potvin. 978-0-9812795-0-3 $15.95 plus GST

Questions for Ariadne: the Labyrinth and the End of Times (Outlaw Editions, 2010)

Minerva's Owl: The Bereavement Phase of My Marriage (Oolichan 2018) $17.95 978-0-88982-325-9

 

Photo by Mike Mathews.

[BCBW 2014] "Advice" "Fiction" "Health"