Siobhán Parkinson

Siobhán Parkinson (born November 23, 1954 ) is an Irish writer. She writes for both children and adults and was made Laureate na nÓg in 2010.

Parkinson grew up in Galway and Donegal, studied English Literature and German at Trinity College, Dublin, and later completed her PhD on the poetry of Dylan Thomas.

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 Irish and English, and also translated from German into English.

As of 2011, she was commissioning editor and publisher with Little Island, an imprint of New Island Books. She is a former co-editor of Bookbird, the magazine of international children's literature organisation IBBY, and former editor of Inis, published by Children's Books Ireland (CBI). She also teaches creative writing at Marino Institute of Education, 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 the Irish Writers' Centre, to Waterford City, 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 Mary McAleese as the first ever Laureate na nÓg, 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".

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