Eoin Colfer 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, entitled And Another Thing ..., 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 between 2014 and 2016.
Biography
Eoin Colfer was born in Wexford, Ireland. He attained worldwide recognition in 2001, when the first Artemis Fowl book was published and became a New York Times Best Seller, as did some sequels. 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.
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."
In 2015, it was announced that Eoin Colfer was working on an adult graphic novel called Illegal with Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano, the team behind the Artemis Fowl Graphic Novels.
Films
In April 2014 principal photography began on a new Irish feature filmPoison 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. The film is an eco friendly production. John Gormley, the former Green Party Minister, has been appointed as a Green Production Manager for the production, with a view to minimising the carbon footprint and environmental impact of the film. On 1 September 2015, Variety reported that Kenneth Branagh had been hired to direct Artemis Fowl for Disney, with Irish playwright Conor McPherson as screenwriter and Judy Hofflund as an executive producer. Colfer confirmed this in a video to Artemis Fowl Confidential, and spoke with RTE Radio 1 about meeting Branagh several times to discuss this prior to the announcement. The film was originally scheduled for release on August 9, 2019 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, but on May 7, 2019, the film was delayed to May 29, 2020. The film was pulled completely on April 3, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and instead debuted on Disney+ on June 12, 2020 to overwhelmingly negative reviews.
Theatre
Colfer wrote an extended monologue for the Wexford Arts Centre in 2015, before expanding the piece into a full play. My Real Life was originally performed across Ireland and the UK throughout 2016 and 2017, before coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. It starred Don Wycherley as Noel O'Brien, dictating his final thoughts and regrets to a friend on an old cassette tape. The play received 4- and 5-star reviews from a variety of publications.
