Siobhán Parkinson (born 23 November 1954) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

writer. She writes for both children and adults and was made

Laureate na nÓg Laureate na nÓg is a position awarded in Ireland once every two years to a distinguished writer or illustrator of children's books. It was set up by the Arts Council of Ireland in 2010. It is intended "to engage young people with high quality chi ...

in 2010.

Early life

Parkinson grew up in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

and

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

, studied English Literature and German at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and later completed her PhD on the poetry of

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

Writing career

She has published more than twenty books since 1992, winning numerous awards, and her books have been translated into multiple languages. She has written in both

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and also translated from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

into English. As of 2011, she was commissioning editor and publisher wit
Little Island
an imprint o
New Island Books
She is a former co-editor of ''Bookbird'', the magazine of international children's literature organisation

IBBY The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

, and former editor of ''Inis'', published b
Children's Books Ireland
(CBI). She also teaches

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Marino Institute of Education Marino Institute of Education (Irish: ) is an Irish College of Education, an associated College of Trinity College Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Marino Institute of Education is focused on providing education courses. Its ...

, and has held numerous Writers-in-Schools short-term residencies, with a particular emphasis on working with children with special needs. She has been writer in residence to Dublin City and th
Irish Writers' Centre
to

Waterford City "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, and the Church of Ireland College of Education; she is a former board member of CBI and was on the CBI working group to renovate the Bisto Book of the Year awards. On 10 May 2010, Parkinson was conferred by

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

as the first ever

, a position she would hold until 2012. In her capacity as laureate she expressed the wish that "every child in the country would have access to a ..library where they could go and find the books that are going to open their minds".

Works

Books for children

* ''Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (Maybe)'' – Bisto Merit Award, 1998 * ''The Moon King'' – Bisto Merit Award, 1999; Certificate of Honour for Writing, 2000, IBBY * '' Sisters ... No Way!'' – Bisto Book of the Year, 1997 * ''Breaking the Wishbone'' (1999) * ''The Love Bean'' (2002) * ''Kathleen: The Celtic Knot'' * ''Second Fiddle: How to Tell a Blackbird From a Sausage'' * ''Something Invisible'' – Bisto Merit Award, 2007 * ''Amelia (1993)'' * ''No Peace for Amelia'' * ''Animals Don't Have Ghosts'' (2002) * ''Cows Are Vegetarians'' (2001) * ''Blue Like Friday'' * ''The Henny Penny Tree'' (2010) * Spellbound (2012) * Kate (2003) * ''The Leprechaun Who Wished He Wasn't'' (1993) * ''Dialann Sár-Rúnda Amy Ní Chonchúir'' * ''Call of the Whales'' (2000) * Long Story Short (2011) * "Bruised" (2011) * ''Maitríóisce'' – Bisto Merit Award, 2012 * Heart-Shaped (2013) * Alexandra (2014) * Fionnuala (2014)

Other books

* ''All Shining in the Spring: The Story of a Baby Who Died'' – non-fiction, intended for children and families dealing with the death of a young child (1995) * ''The Thirteenth Room'' (2005) – novel for adults * ''Painted Ladies'' (2010) – novel for adults * ''Gráinne - Gaiscíoch Gael'' (2019) – historical novel about

Grace O'Malley Grace O'Malley ( – c. 1603), also known as Gráinne O'Malley ( ga, Gráinne Ní Mháille, ), was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. In Irish folklore she is commonly k ...

. Cois Life. .

Translations

* ''The Great Rabbit Revenge Plan'' by Burkhard Spinnen * ''Over the Wall'' by Renate Ahrens

Awards and honours

Parkinson has been shortlisted eleven times for the Irish Bisto Book of the Year award, which she won on one occasion, for ''Sisters... No Way!'', in 1997. She has received Bisto Merit and Honour Book awards four times and has had two IBBY Honours and several White Ravens. Most recently she won an

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

award for ''Dialann Sár-Rúnda Amy Ní Chonchúir''.

Publishing career

Siobhán Parkinson is the founder o
Little Island
an independent publishing house for works for children and young adults. Little Island Books started as a children's imprint of the independent publisher,

New Island Books New Island Books is an independent Irish publisher of literary fiction, poetry, drama, biography, and books on politics and social affairs. History It was founded as ''Raven Arts Press'' in 1977 by Dermot Bolger. In 1982, Raven Arts closed and w ...

, but later became a separate company. Little Island won the Reading Association of Ireland award in 2011 and the British Book Awards Irish Small Press of the Year in 2019.

Personal life

Parkinson is visually impaired, and uses

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s and computers to do her work. She lives in Dublin with her husband,

woodturner Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...

Roger Bennett. She has one adult son, Matthew.

References

External links

*
Laureate na nOg

Little Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkinson, Siobhan 1954 births Living people Laureates na nÓg Alumni of Trinity College Dublin German–English translators Irish children's writers Irish editors Irish publishers (people) 20th-century Irish translators Irish women writers People from County Donegal People from County Galway Irish women children's writers