About Sophie

After gaining an MA in Mediaeval History at St Andrews University, Sophie qualified as a Chartered Accountant and for many years worked in international finance, latterly as Finance Director for a large multinational IT company. After taking a break to raise a family, she returned to work as a non-executive director for a regional building society whilst at the same time developing her interest in storytelling, performance and literature.

Over several years, Sophie trained and worked with a number of high profile UK and European storytellers. In 2009, she set up as a full-time storyteller. By 2013, she had been nominated for the British Awards for Storytelling Excellence as Outstanding Female Storyteller, and had her show Seven Deadly Sins nominated for two awards at the Buxton Festival Fringe under New Writing and Spoken Word.

She now works throughout the UK and beyond, performing stories and leading workshops in a multitude of settings. From schools to historic houses, community and social groups, conferences, festivals, museums, libraries, theatres, corporate and private family events.

As a writer, Sophie is published under the name Sophie Draper (see www.sophiedraper.co.uk).

Her book Cuckoo, a gothic psychological thriller, was published in 2018 by Avon at Harper Collins. It won the Bath Novel Award 2017. She also won the prestigious York Festival of Writing Friday Night Live Award 2017. Cuckoo went on to reach the no 1 spot in the Bookseller's Heatseekers list.

Sophie's second book, Magpie, published 2019, is a brooding domestic suspense with reportedly, "the best twist you'll read this year".

Sophie is currently working on her next book and her literary agent is Jenny Savill at Andrew Nurnberg Associates,

Aside from the storytelling, writing and raising her family of boys, Sophie enjoys writing poetry (she won the Ripley Poetry Award 2009), painting and gardening at her home in the glorious Peak District countryside just outside Derby.