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Eoin Colfer

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Eoin Colfer
Colfer at BookExpo in 2019
Colfer at BookExpo in 2019
Born (1965-05-14) 14 May 1965 (age 59)
Wexford, Ireland
OccupationWriter
Period1998–present
GenreChildren's fantasy, science fiction and adventure novels
Notable worksArtemis Fowl series
Signature
Website
www.eoincolfer.com

Eoin Colfer (/ˈoʊ.ɪn/; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the Artemis Fowl series. In September 2008, Colfer was commissioned to write the sixth instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, titled And Another Thing ...,[1][2] which was published in October 2009. In October 2016, in a contract with Marvel Comics, he released Iron Man: The Gauntlet. He served as Laureate na nÓg (Ireland's Children's Laureate) between 2014 and 2016.[3]

Biography

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Colfer at the Helsinki Book Fair in 2001

Eoin Colfer was born in Wexford, Ireland. He graduated from Dublin University with a bachelor’s degree in Education. Soon after graduating, Colfer spent four years working in Saudi Arabia, Italy and Tunisia.[4] His travels throughout Europe, as well as his Irish heritage, serve as a basis for many of his earlier stories.[5] He attained worldwide recognition in 2001, when the first Artemis Fowl book became a New York Times Best Seller. Since then, several others of his works have become bestsellers as well.[6] Among his other popular works are Half Moon Investigations, The Wish List, The Supernaturalist, and a series of Eoin Colfer's Legends. In January 2008, Colfer published a book titled Airman, another best-seller. To date, more than half of his books have reached the New York Times list at least once. His books have also received many awards, including the British Children’s Book of the Year, The Irish Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year and The German Children’s Book of the Year.[7]

Works

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Benny Shaw

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  • 1. Benny and Omar (1998)
  • 2. Benny and Babe (1999)

O'Brien Flyers

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Colfer contributed three volumes to this series of books by several writers, for very young readers.

  • 1. Going Potty (1999)
  • 4. Ed's Funny Feet (2000)
  • 7. Ed's Bed (2001)

The Fowl Adventures

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Artemis Fowl
The Fowl Twins

Companion books

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Graphic novels are planned for every book in the series.

The Supernaturalist

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Companion books
  • The Supernaturalist: The Graphic Novel (10 July 2012)

Eoin Colfer's Legends

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  • 1. Legend of Spud Murphy (2005)
  • 2. Legend of Captain Crow’s Teeth (2006)
  • 3. Legend of the Worst Boy in the World (2008)

W.A.R.P. (Witness Anonymous Relocation Program)

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  • 1. W.A.R.P. The Reluctant Assassin (11 April 2013)[11]
  • 2. W.A.R.P. The Hangman's Revolution (24 June 2014)
  • 3. W.A.R.P. The Forever Man (15 September 2015)

Half Moon Investigations

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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The first five novels in the Hitchhiker's "trilogy" were written by Douglas Adams. Adams' widow, Jane Belson, and the literary agency that manages Adams' estate asked Colfer to write another book, as Adams had intended to add to the series, agreeing that the end to the fifth book was "very bleak". Already a fan of the series, Colfer called the opportunity "like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice ... For years I have been finishing this incredible story in my head and now I have the opportunity to do it in the real world ... It is a gift from the gods. So, thank you Thor and Odin."[12]

Daniel McEvoy

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  • 1. Plugged (1 May 2011)
  • 2. Screwed (9 May 2013)

Marvel Comics

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  • Iron Man: the Gauntlet (6 October 2016).[13]

Doctor Who

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  • A Big Hand For The Doctor (2013)[14]

Standalone novels

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  • The Wish List (31 January 2001)
  • Click, chapter 3 (1 October 2007)
  • Airman (2 January 2008)
  • Highfire (28 January 2020) (also titled The Last Dragon on Earth)

Children's books

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Holiday books

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  • Juniper's Christmas (2023)[20]

Graphic novels

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In 2015, it was announced that Colfer was working on an adult graphic novel called Illegal with Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano, the team behind the Artemis Fowl graphic novels.[21] The same team released their second young adult graphic novel called Global on 11 April 2023.

Film and TV adaptations

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In April 2014,[22] principal photography began on a new Irish feature film Poison Pen, the first screenplay from Colfer. The film, a romantic comedy, was filmed on location in Ireland over the next three weeks by the participants on the Filmbase/Staffordshire University MSc in Digital Feature Film Production. The film premiered at the 26th Galway Film Fleadh on 11 July 2014.[23] The film is an eco-friendly production. John Gormley, the former Green Party Minister, was appointed as a Green Production Manager for the production, with a view to minimising the carbon footprint and environmental impact of the film.[24]

On 1 September 2015, Variety reported that Kenneth Branagh had been hired to direct Artemis Fowl for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, with Irish playwright Conor McPherson as screenwriter and Judy Hofflund and Branagh as producers.[25] Colfer confirmed this in a video to Artemis Fowl Confidential,[26] and spoke with RTE Radio 1 about meeting Branagh several times to discuss the film prior to the announcement.[27] The film was originally scheduled for release on 9 August 2019[28] but on 7 May 2019 it was delayed to 29 May 2020.[29] The film was pulled on 3 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and debuted on Disney+ on 12 June 2020 instead of a theatrical release, to overwhelmingly negative reviews.[30][31]

On August 28, 2020, Colfer’s novel "Highfire" was expected to be adapted into a television series with Nicolas Cage voicing a character and producing the series for Prime Video,[32] until July 7, 2022, the series was moved to Paramount+.[33]

Theatre

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  • Holy Mary (2011)[34]
  • The Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth (2012)
  • My Real Life (2015)
  • The Comeback Vehicle (2019)[35]

Musicals

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  • The Lords of Love (2010)[36]
  • The Belle Bottoms (2014)
  • Noël the Musical (2016)

References

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  1. ^ "New Hitchhiker's author announced". Entertainment/Arts. BBC News. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. ^ Griffiths, Peter (17 September 2008). "Hitchhiker's Guide series to ride again". Reuters. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  3. ^ "Eoin Colfer (2014-2016)". Children's Book Ireland. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. ^ Christensen, Samantha (April 2012). "EOIN COLFER: Ireland Author". Bookbird. 50 (Special Issue: 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominees): 31. doi:10.1353/bkb.2012.0026. S2CID 144957456. ProQuest 1000455521.
  5. ^ "About the Author". Eoin Colfer. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Bestsellers". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ^ "British Book Awards - previous winners". 5 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 April 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  8. ^ Wheadon, Carrie B. "Artemis Fowl, Book 1". Common Sense Media. Common Sense. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ^ Lightbody, Robert. "Running A-Fowl of Magic". January Magazine. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. ^ Pauli, Michelle (29 March 2011). "Eoin Colfer and Artemis Fowl: a beginning and an end". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  11. ^ "AF Site". Publishers Weekly. 11 April 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  12. ^ Flood, Alison (17 September 2008). "Eoin Colfer to write sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Eoin Colfer set for 2016 Iron Man novel!". Artemis-Fowl.com. 31 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Doctor Who: A Big Hand for the Doctor review". 24 January 2013.
  15. ^ "'Imaginary Fred' cover revealed". Artemis Fowl Confidential. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  16. ^ Samantha Balaban (22 September 2019). "A Boy And A Pup Come To One Another's Rescue In 'The Dog Who Lost His Bark'". NPR. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  17. ^ "'A heartwarming story' - Eoin Colfer and Celia Ivey's new book".
  18. ^ "2024 USBBY Outstanding International Books" (PDF). www.usbby.org. 2024.
  19. ^ "USBBY Announces the 2024 Outstanding International Books List". www.slj.com. School Library Journal. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Macmillan Unwraps Charity Effort for Eoin Colfer's Holiday Novel".
  21. ^ "2015 Eoin Colfer Interview with Artemis Fowl Confidential". Artemis Fowl Confidential. 9 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  22. ^ Murphy, Niall (7 April 2014). "Irish Film: Production begins on the Eoin Colfer scripted Poison Pen". Scannain.
  23. ^ "26th Galway Film Fleadh Programme". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  24. ^ "Irish Film: Production begins on the Eoin Colfer scripted Poison Pen". 7 April 2014.
  25. ^ Kroll, Justin (1 September 2015). "Kenneth Branagh Developing 'Artemis Fowl' Adaptation for Disney". Variety. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  26. ^ "Artemis Fowl Confidential Eoin Colfer Interview (August 2008)". Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  27. ^ Wall, Matt (2 September 2015). "Eoin Colfer on RTE Radio 1 talking about the Artemis Fowl Movie". Artemis Fowl Confidential. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  28. ^ "Disney announces dates for new Star Wars movies, MCU Phase 4, and more". Polygon.com. 7 May 2019.
  29. ^ Fuster, Jeremy (7 May 2019). "Disney Bumps 'New Mutants' and 'Artemis Fowl' to 2020". The Wrap. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  30. ^ Welk, Brian (3 April 2020). "'Black Widow' Moves to November as Other MCU Films Shift Back to 2021, 2022". The Wrap. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  31. ^ Artemis Fowl (2020), retrieved 12 June 2020
  32. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (28 August 2020). "Nicolas Cage To Voice Title Character & EP Fantasy Thriller Series 'Highfire' Based On Book In Works At Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  33. ^ White, Peter (7 July 2022). "Nicolas Cage's Vodka-Loving Dragon Series 'Highfire' In The Works At Paramount+, Moves From Amazon". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Holy Mary". 16 March 2018.
  35. ^ "Watch: Dustin the Turkey is back with his brand new tour The Comeback King". 2 October 2019.
  36. ^ "Review - the Lords of Love". 4 June 2010.
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Cultural offices
Preceded by Laureate na nÓg
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
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