Siobhan Dowd

'The protagonists in my stories aren’t human rights heroes in the conventional sense. They are ordinary people living in England and Ireland who find extraordinary ways to overcome the difficulties in their lives and for me that’s the essence of any good story: it’s where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.' –Siobhan Dowd

'In 2007 Siobhan Dowd was voted one of the twenty-five British writers for the future (only three were children’s writers). Siobhan is still very much a writer for the future.  Everybody should read her.' –David Fickling, the author's publisher

Siobhan Dowd was born in London to Irish parents.  She spent much of her youth visiting the family cottage in Aglish, County Waterford and later the family home in Wicklow Town.  A Swift Pure Cry, Siobhan's first novel, was published by David Fickling Books, in March 2006.  In May 2007, it won many children’s book awards including the prestigious Brandford Boase Award.  Her second novel, The London Eye Mystery (a story for 9 to 12-year-olds), was published by David Fickling Books on 7 June 2007 and her third novel, Bog Child (a story for teenagers), appeared in February 2008.  Her fourth novel, Solace of the Road, has just been published – Feb 2009.

Tragically Siobhan died on 21st August 2007 aged 47; She had been receiving treatment for advanced breast cancer for 3 years. Her memory lives on in a Trust set up to help disadvantaged children in the UK and Ireland discover and experience the joy of reading. The Siobhan Dowd Trust was the dying bequest of this celebrated children’s author.  Just before her tragic death she personally and energetically supervised its foundation, to support, in all ways possible, disadvantaged young readers in the UK and Ireland. It was one of the very last things on Siobhan’s mind and clearly for her the most pressing cause in our society today.

The aims of the Trust are simple and direct:

To take stories to our children without stories.
To bring the joy of reading to our children deprived of reading.
To bring books to our children deprived of books.
To fund disadvantaged readers where there is no funding, and to support disadvantaged readers where there is no support.
To fund and support any persons or organizations who help disadvantaged young readers.

The Trustees believe that the best and truest way faithfully to observe Siobhan’s last wish is to invite applications from persons or organizations in the UK or Ireland who need funding to directly help disadvantaged young readers.  The Trustees will take a few months to consider and evaluate applications and then begin to disburse awards in the way that best seems to follow Siobhan’s wishes.

By the terms of Siobhan’s will, all royalty income derived from her published novels and any posthumously published work will go to the Trust.

The Trustees believe that Siobhan’s generosity will be the seed of something much larger, and so the Trust also welcomes donations from the public. The aspiration is to help as many disadvantaged young people as possible.

The Trustees are in no doubt of the importance of this bequest and its fundamental urgency for our children and for the future culture of the British Isles and Ireland.  We may think we live in a literate society but, as Siobhan was well aware, there are too many places in our own ‘house’ where children are denied the opportunity to read. This is a charity that must begin at home, a home that, like Siobhan’s life, spans both sides of the Irish Sea.

A brief note on Siobhan:
Siobhan spent most of her career looking after writers.  Working for PEN she fought to help writers silenced by oppressive regimes around the world. Closer to home, she did all she could to get reading material into the hands of disadvantaged young people from all walks of life, Siobhan co-founded and then ran the Readers & Writers Programme for English PEN which encouraged disadvantaged children to read by sending books and writers into schools as well as working with other institutions such as prisons. Siobhan also encouraged youngsters from the Romany culture to record their history. Her support for, and encouragement of, her fellow-writers was inexhaustible.  

In some ways perhaps she sacrificed her own brimming talent for the benefit of other authors. And then, just as she discovered she was fatally ill, she put pen to paper and produced four of the most remarkable novels for children you could wish for.  She was a writing phenomenon. The overriding thought of all those who knew her work is that her loss to the world of children’s writing is a tragedy.   It is utterly characteristic that Siobhan should, at the end, put her mind unerringly to the most deserving group of all: the young reader. Siobhan realized that our literary culture - critics, bookshops, agents, publishing, libraries, schools - depends ultimately on the reader.  And, of readers, the young reader is the most vulnerable. And amongst young readers, the disadvantaged young reader is the most deprived of all. Siobhan, at the last, and with all her usual clarity, decided to help them.  And you can help them too.

The Siobhan Dowd Trust Books
A Swift Pure Cry
The London Eye Mystery
Bog Child
Solace of the Road

The Trustees
Tony Bradman
Rachel Billington
Polly Nolan
David Fickling
Sarah Wyatt

Please log on to www.siobhandowdtrust.org for more details about the Trust, about how to donate and about how to apply for support

http://www.siobhandowd.co.uk

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Featured Books, with extracts by Siobhan Dowd

Bog Child
Siobhan Dowd
Winner of Carnegie Award 2009 and the Bisto Irish Children's Book Award 2009. New and challenging book full of mystery and shadows from recently deceased author Siobhan Dowd. Both terrifying and fascinating from the start, Bog...
Format: Paperback - Released: 06/01/2011
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Solace of the Road
Siobhan Dowd
Shortlisted for the prestigious Costa Children's Book Award 2009, for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2009 and for the 20th Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award 2010. Beautifully written and achingly moving, Solace of the Road is the poignant and desperate story...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/03/2010
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Bog Child
Siobhan Dowd
Winner of Carnegie Award 2009 and the Bisto Irish Children's Book Award 2009 and shortlisted for the . New and challenging book full of mystery and shadows from recently deceased author Siobhan Dowd. Both terrifying and...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/02/2009
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Solace of the Road
Siobhan Dowd
Shortlisted for the prestigious Costa Children's Book Award 2009 - the winner will be announced in early January.  Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2009 Beautifully written and achingly moving, Solace of the Road is the poignant and desperate story...
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/02/2009
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The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd
A favourite of Michael Rosen: "A book that allows difference to be part of the plot and not a point in itself." Shortlisted for the Nasen and TES 'Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award' 2007. When Salim mysteriously disappears while on...
Format: Paperback - Released: 05/06/2008
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Bog Child
Siobhan Dowd
Shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2008. New and challenging book full of mystery and shadows from recently deceased author Siobhan Dowd. Both terrifying and fascinating from the start, Bog Child is a must-read for 2008. The plot follows Fergus...
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/02/2008
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The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd
Shortlisted for the Nasen and TES 'Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award' 2007. When Salim mysteriously disappears while on a ride on the London Eye everyone is frantic and even the police are baffled. Ted has his own theories,...
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/06/2007
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A Swift Pure Cry
Siobhan Dowd
Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2007. A superb first novel, beautifully written, deeply moving and full of heartbreak. When Shell Talent’s mother dies everything around her begins to fall to pieces. Tired of looking after her younger brother and...
Format: Paperback - Released: 04/01/2007
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A Swift Pure Cry
Siobhan Dowd
Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2007. A superb first novel, beautifully written, deeply moving and full of heartbreak. When Shell Talent’s mother dies everything around her begins to fall to pieces. Tired of looking after her younger brother and sister...
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/03/2006
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