Eoin Colfer biography

Born on 14th May 1965 in Wexford, South-East Ireland Eoin Colfer attended Dublin University to gain his degree and qualify as a primary school teacher like his father before him. Returning to Wexford to begin his teaching career he left his home county once again in 1992, this time with his now wife Jackie, whom he married in 1991, to teach in East Africa, Asia and Europe (Italy) over a period of four years. His first book, Benny and Omar was inspired by his experiences in Tunisia, East Africa and was published in 1998. It has since gone on to be translated into several different European languages.

Eoin’s teaching experience with students who have learning disabilities and emotional challenges gave him a particular insight into children’s humour and attitudes that is reflected in his writing.

His first Artemis Fowl book was published in 2001 and was met with huge success, Eoin now in a position to give up work decided to give up teaching and concentrate on writing full time, bringing a lot of joy to a lot of children (and quite a few adults too).

Describing his Artemis Fowl books as “Fairies meet Die Hard” Eoin’s Artemis Fowl series continues to grow in number and success. However, he is not confined to writing exclusively about his best-known character and has several other published titles unrelated to the series, which are successful in their own right.

In September 2008 it was announced that Eoin Colfer will write a sequel to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. As a huge fan of Hitchhikers since a youth, Eoin likened being asked to write the sequel to being offered the superpower of his choice.

Eoin Colfer lives in Wexford, Ireland and the south of France with his wife and two children, Sean and Finn.

Eoin Colfer books

• Benny and Omar - 1998
• Benny and Babe - 1999
• Going Potty - 1999
• The Wish List – The Wish List
• Ed's Funny Feet - 2000
• Ed's Bed - 2001
• Artemis Fowl - 2001
• Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident - 2002
• Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code - 2003
• The Artemis Fowl Files - 2004
• Artemis Fowl: The Seventh Dwarf - 2004
• The Legend of Spud Murphy - 2004
• The Supernaturalist - 2004
• Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception - 2005
• The Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth - 2006
• Half-Moon Investigations - 2006
• Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony - 2006
• The Legend of The Worst Boy In The World - 2007
• Airman - 2008
• Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox – 2008
• And Another Thing….2009

Latest news: Eoin Colfer

Eoin Colfer named as London Book Fair Author of the Day
Children’s fantasy author Eoin Colfer, plus Man Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel and South African writer Andre Brink have been named as the three Authors of the Day at this year's London Book Fair. The London Book Fair is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution [...]

Fantasy news round-up – February 11, 2010
The Gruffalo announced as firm favourite of Irish mothers and their children Two-thirds of Irish mothers begin reading to their child before he or she is a year old and more than a quarter read to their child from birth, according to a new survey. It found that 71 per cent of mothers read a bedt [...]

Percy Jackson added to the DS Flips catalogue
EA are currently developing a FLIPS edition of The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Including all five books from the fantasy series, along with two bonus titles, interactive features will be included, such as the coins you collect as you read and can spend in the bestiary whi [...]

Peacock, Zemeckis and Starkey join forces to bring Eoin Colfer's Airman to the big screen
Ann Peacock, the writer behind the film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has been called upon to help bring Eoin Colfer’s fantasy adventure Airman to the silver screen. The $150m film will be directed by Gil Kenan (City of Ember, Monster House) and produced by Robert Zemeckis ( [...]

Colfer and Benedictus are rewarded for their courage
Eoin Colfer and David Benedictus both deserve medals for bravery. In having the pluck to step into the shoes of the national treasure’s that are Douglas Adams and AA Milne they have put themselves on a pedestal that people were trying to knock them off before they had even written a word. William Ho [...]

Fantasy books coming to the Nintendo DS this Christmas
Electronic Arts have announced the development of FLIPS™, a new book range created for the Nintendo DS™. FLIPS has been designed to give children a new way to read their favourite books. Nearly 2 million 8-11 year-olds in the UK own an NDS console. EA has worked with Egmont and Penguin Publishing to [...]

Penguin launches the official Hitchhiker's sequel with a day long conference at the Royal Festival Hall
You may not have noticed, but there’s something stirring in the Galaxy… bestselling Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer’s 6th novel in the ever-more increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, will be published on 12th October, the 30th anniversary of publication of the fir [...]

October 12 marks the 30th anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
We here at Fantasy Book Review are dedicated to the fantasy genre. We do not read and review science fiction books unless they are something most remarkable, books that transcend genres… As October 12 2009 marks the day that the most remarkeable book ever to come out of the great publishing corpor [...]

Niffenegger praises Jonathan Strange, JK Rowling tweets and thumbs up for Ghost Hunter
Here follows a round-up of the best fantasy-related news items from the past seven days. Audrey Niffenegger’s novel The Time Traveller's Wife has sold more than five million copies. In a recent interview she was asked “What book do you wish you’d written?” And her reply? “Jonathan Strange and Mr N [...]

Puffin Ireland established to unearth new breed of young children's authors
Puffin, the children's imprint of the Penguin publishing group, is setting up in Ireland. Michael McLoughlin, the Penguin Ireland managing director believes that the wealth of talented authors on the Emerald Isle can create the best-selling young children's books of the future, both in Ireland and [...]

Eoin Colfer critical acclaim

Artemis Fowl and the Artic Incident - Fast, funny and very exciting – Daily Mail

Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code - A winning combination of humour, action and ingenuity – Sunday Times

Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception - A crunchily perfect knock-out of a debut novel – Guardian

The Supernaturalist - Reads like The Matrix crossed with Oliver Twist – The Times