Penny is an author, a bookseller, and a storyteller who lives in Victoria, BC. Originally from Toronto, she has lived in Switzerland, New Zealand and Prince George, before moving to Victoria in 1989. She received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Trinity College, at the University of Toronto.

She was “accidentally” introduced to storytelling at the Storytellers School of Toronto, and, delighted by the experience, she started her own adult storytelling group in her home town of Prince George, BC. Since then, Penny has performed at storytelling festivals in Prince George, Nanaimo and Vancouver, and has worked in schools presenting workshops for students, teachers, and parents. In 1994, she spearheaded the XV Commonwealth Games Storytelling Project, a year long festival comprising fourteen tellers and ninety-two performances. 

Penny Draper’s first juvenile fiction novel, Terror at Turtle Mountain was a finalist for the Silver Birch Young Reader’s Choice Award in Ontario, as well as the Diamond Willow Award, and Book of the Year for the ForeWord Magazine Awards in the US. It is part of Coteau Books for Kids Disaster Strikes! Series. The series also includes Penny’s second book, Peril at Pier Nine, and her latest, Graveyard of the Sea.