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Siobhan McDermott

All of the information on this page has been provided by the author. If you need an author to have specialist skills, experience or knowledge please ask for more information about this ahead of booking them for an event. Please note that Scottish Book Trust cannot carry out Disclosure checks on Live Literature authors for most events. It is the responsibility of the person organising the event to carry out the appropriate Disclosure checks.
Other contact method: Contact me through my website contact form https://www.siobhanmcdermott.com/contact
Local authority: Edinburgh City
Languages: English
Author type: Writer
Siobhan McDermott's headshot

Siobhan McDermott is the author of the middle-grade fantasy adventure series Paper Dragons. Her debut, Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm, was selected as Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month at publication and was described by Eoin Colfer as ‘a new classic fantasy adventure!’. Her book was featured in The Guardian’s monthly round up of best new chapter books for children and teens and was described as ‘a really amazing example of great world building’ on breakfast television programme Ireland AM. In 2025, Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm was selected by Children’s Books Ireland for their ROAD Forward initiative with Enterprise Mobility with 5,000 copies gifted to students across 157 primary schools to boost child literacy across Ireland.

Siobhan has delivered school assemblies and workshops across the UK, Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Her events range from assemblies on how to weave fantasy and reality to workshops on how to spark inspiration. She has been invited to speak at Cheltenham Literature Festival, International Literature Festival Dublin, and The Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Her writing draws on her dual-heritage, with Chinese mythology and Irish folklore incorporated into her books.

Websites featuring the author

Local authorities will visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events will deliver

Panel event; Reading; Talk; Workshop

Audience will work with

Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts)

Topics of work

Adventure; Characters of colour & BAME characters; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Fantasy

Age groups published for

Children; Teens

Age groups will work with

6-8; 9-11; 12-14

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+