Sonya is an award-winning novelist, journalist, television reporter, presenter and producer. She has a degree in Broadcasting Communications and has worked across a variety of platforms and programmes including TVNZ's Breakfast, 1News, 20/20, Sunday and Q+A programmes. She also has a Masters in Creative Writing with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland. Her first novel, Spark Hunter, has made several bestsellers and best-of lists since its release in October 2021. It won the NZSA Best First Book Award at the 2022 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, a Storylines Notable Book Award 2022 and was shortlisted for the Esther Glen Junior Fiction prize. Sonya also writes essays, reviews and opinion pieces for a variety of publications including North & South, Newsroom, Canvas and The Spin Off, and produces and presents the Bookland Presents: How to Love podcast series. She is the founder and Chief Executive of the charity Kiwi Christmas Books (www.kiwichristmasbooks.org.nz) and is the co-director of a small film and television post-production company with her husband, colourist Pete Ritchie.
