Silja Swaby, half Jamaican, half Finnish, is a marine biologist and author. Funded by Arts Council England, she has won competitions, and been placed in prizes and awards. She is working on a series of futuristic thrillers, featuring a female biologist whose quiet academic life takes a drastic turn. Silja has taken creative writing courses at Cambridge University and more recently Yale University, USA.

Silja tutors writers, gives workshops, and provides a critique service. She is happily unmarried and lives in deepest Somerset, UK.


Silja Swaby is pronounced Sil-yah Sway-bee.

Science and Tech. Writing

Silja Swaby is a writer of scientific, technical and popular non-fiction. For 18 years she proposed, acquired and worked on government research contracts relating to species conservation and climate change. This was in the marine biological field for the UK conservation agencies as Silja E. Swaby. She has co-written reports (some confidential), papers for peer-reviewed scientific journals and a popular shark book for HarperCollins. She has given papers and posters at international conferences in the UK and abroad. She is used to handling large quantities of data, working to tight deadlines, strict formats and writes in a clear and precise manner. She uses the OED and the Oxford Manual of Style as her standard references but can adapt to any house style.

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