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How to pronounce Eoin Colfer: Owen COLfer (Eoin is a very old Irish name, rarely used outside Ireland with this spelling)
Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) was born in Wexford on the South-East coast of
Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father
(an elementary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama
teacher). He first developed an interest in writing in primary
(elementary) school with gripping Viking stories inspired by history he was
learning in school at the time!
After leaving school he got his degree
from Dublin university and qualified as a primary school teacher, returning to
work in Wexford. He married in 1991 and he and his wife spent about 4 years
between 1992 and 1996 working in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Italy. His first book, Benny and Omar, was published in 1998, based
on his experiences in Tunisia; it has since been translated into many languages.
A sequel followed in 1999, followed by some other books. Then in
2001 the first Artemis Fowl book was published and he was able to resign from
teaching and concentrate fully on writing.
He says, "I
will keep writing until people stop reading or I run out of ideas." Hopefully
neither of these will happen anytime soon. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.
Eoin Colfer's website
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This is a transcription from TheAuthorHour radio show. For additional questions not asked during the live show, visit TheAuthorHour
Matthew: My guest today is Eoin Colfer, international best selling author of the Artemis Fowl Series, which won the British Children's Book of the Year Award and has sold over 18 million copies. He's also the author of Half Moon Investigations, which was the basis for a TV series this year, plus the Supernaturalist and Airman. Eoin's latest book is the highly anticipated 6th installment to the late Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and is called And Another Thing. Thanks for being on the show today Eoin.
Eoin: You're welcome Matthew, my pleasure.
Matthew: Now, before we get into the Hitchhiker's book, let's first talk about the Artemis Fowl series, real quick.
Eoin: Yeah.
Matthew: Those books have won a slew of awards, all of them have hit the New York Times Bestseller list, and they've been translated into dozens of languages, but like most authors you struggled at the beginning of your writing career to make a name for yourself, didn't you?
Eoin: I did, I mean I started when I was a young man, back in my early 20s. I'd just left college and I kind ...
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