I was born in Nottingham, East Midlands and am the first child of first-generation Jamaican parents. My parents, Iona Skyers (nee Anderson) and Richard Skyers met shortly after they arrived in the UK.  My brother and only sibling, Basil Skyers, two years my junior, died in 2010 of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, aged 49.  The disease disproportionately impacts Black Caribbean and Black African people.  Our parents were passionate about our education.  

I have always been an avid reader and recall the time when I took books out of my local library, one morning, during the summer holidays, and went to return them later that afternoon.  I was told I couldn’t because they were date stamped for that day. The Librarian visited my mother at home and asked if she could help me select books.  This started my lifelong reading journey.  I never dreamed I could be a writer as there were no Black writers that I knew of in the 1960s.

Having worked for most of my life as a technical and policy writer, I started writing fiction recently.  I had a my first flash fiction published by Flash Flood on National Flash Fiction Day, called, Must Be The Music. I have also had a flash piece included in author Vanessa Gebbie’s most recent publication, 51 And A Half, and a creative non-fiction piece on older runners in Like the Wind magazine for runners called Can You Hear Me?  My piece on older runners was also launched in a running magazine in Japan. In 2023, I entered my first ever story in the Globe Soup Short Story Competition and was placed as a Top Tier Finalist. I am currently working on an Anthology with a group of Black and Asian writers.

I was educated at Victoria Primary School, an inner-city school in Nottingham, Farnborough Bilateral School, and West Bridgford College of Further Education.  I have a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MBA from Brunel University, an MA from Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada, and a BA (Hons) from Keele University.  I live in London with my husband Clyde Morris, who is a musician, and a science and maths tutor. 

 When I am not writing I enjoy singing with Clyde at gigs. I also enjoy cooking, travelling and running. I became a London Marathon finisher in 2021.

Dr Sophia Skyers

Twitter @SophiaSkyers.