• Write for Suite101
• Sign In

• Home
• Profile

Jen L. Jones - Jen L. Jones

Jen L. Jones is Topic Editor for Middle Eastern Affairs and Religion & Politics at Suite 101. She is a Scottish-Canadian writer with an interest in history and world affairs, especially as they pertain to human rights. In contrast, the other side of her personality devotes itself to the study of wildflowers, plants, and medicine.

Jen has always supported human rights causes by way of personal involvement. She spent ten years as a volunteer with Amnesty International, working as prisoner co-ordinator in campaigns on behalf of political prisoners worldwide. Especially memorable for her is her work on behalf of a Russian Jew trying to leave the USSR, before Glasnost. Her efforts included letters and faxes to authorities, as well as public informational displays and presentations.

She now continues the never-ending work for human rights in other ways, with articles such as these:

• Talks to Resume as Hamas Captive, Corporal Gilad Shalit, Turns 25
• Sharia Law in Iran: Death Penalty for Christian Youcef Nadarkhani
• Asia Bibi, Christian Awaiting Death in a Pakistan Prison, Now Ill

Jen is a graduate of the University of Waterloo with a BA in Psychology and has a Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language from the Canadian College of Language and Cultural Studies.

Jen was contributing editor and publisher for three years of a Canadian print publication (Herbs at Home Magazine, a member of the Canadian Publishers Association). Her interests in gardening, native plants, and herbal medicine found expression through her work with the magazine. Also, living in a Canadian woodland gives her the opportunity to keep learning more about the natural world. She was editor of the Stevia Canada Newsletter and has had articles published in Woman Magazine, Toronto, and The Bobcaygeon Independent.

But Jen's experiences stretch beyond the rustic life in Canada: she has had over 20 years of solid business experience, lived in three continents, traveled in Scotland pursuing her interest in Celtic history, spent time in Turkey teaching English as a Second Language while immersed in Islamic and Middle Eastern culture, and imported and sold handwoven Turkish kilims (rugs). She has revisited Turkey several times since her stay there and hopes to return again soon.

All of these varied interests inform Jen’s writing.

Editor’s Choice Awards:

• The Organic Garden: Green and Easy by Allan Shepherd, Book Review
• Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Ex-Muslim Warns of Islam in the West
• Dry Wildflowers for Harvest and Thanksgiving Floral Arrangements