Meet the #DBF2020 Schools’ Programme Authors!

Sarah Webb’s books for young readers include Blazing a Trail: Irish Women Who Changed the World (Illustrated by Lauren O’Neill), Dare to Dream: Irish People Who Took on the World and Won (Illustrated by Graham Corcoran), The Songbird Café Girls series and Emma the Penguin.

Alan Nolan has written and illustrated many brilliant books for children including Fintan’s Fifteen, Sam Hannigan and Conor’s Caveman.

Deirdre Sullivan is established as one of Ireland’s most distinctive YA voices. She has published eight titles with Little Island, enjoying notable success with Needlework and Tangleweed and Brine (winner, Irish Book Awards YA Book of the Year 2017; CBI Book of the Year 2018; Irish Times Reader’s Choice Award for YA 2017). In 2019 she published Perfectly Preventable Deaths (Hot Key).

Catherine Doyle grew up in the West of Ireland. She has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Publishing. She is the author of the young adult trilogy Blood for Blood (Vendetta, Inferno and Mafiosa). Her award-winning and bestselling middle grade debut, The Storm Keeper’s Island, is set on the magical island of Arranmore, where her grandparents grew up. The sequel, The Lost Tide Warriors, was published in July 2019. Catherine lives in Galway by the sea, but spends a lot of her time in London and the US.

Úna Woods is an illustrator and author who lives in Dublin. Her work has been published in books, magazines and websites. She loves working with bright colours and patterns in her illustrations. She grew up in Clontarf, very close to where Bram Stoker was born. Her first children’s picture book Have You Seen the Dublin Vampire? will be published by The O’Brien Press in September 2020. Find more about Úna and her work at unawoods.com

Helen Corcoran grew up in Cork dreaming of scheming queens and dashing lady knights. After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, she worked as a bookseller for over a decade. She lives in Dublin, writing fantasy novels and haunting coffee shops in search of the perfect latte. Her stunning debut YA novel, Queen of Coin and Whispers, was published in June 2020 to rave reviews.

Peter Donnelly is an Irish author and award-winning illustrator. His debut picture book The President’s Glasses (Gill Books) was a No. 1 bestseller and his second book The President’s Cat (Gill Books) won the Children’s Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Peter lives and works in Dublin.

Áine Ni Ghlinn is Ireland’s 6th Laureate na nÓg (Children’s Literature Laureate). She is the first artist working solely in the Irish language to be awarded the honour. Laureate na nÓg is an initiative of the Arts Council, managed on the Council’s behalf by Children’s Books Ireland, with the support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Poetry Ireland. The lecture was commissioned by Words Ireland as part of their first Lecture Series.

Lindsay is an award-winning screenwriter who has written for film, TV, games and apps. She is the creator of the ground-breaking series Punky, the first mainstream animation series worldwide in which the central character has special needs (Down’s Syndrome). Two series later, it has won multiple awards and is available in over 100 countries with circa 5 million hits on YouTube.

Darragh McCullough is a journalist, broadcaster and farmer specialising in agricultural and rural affairs. He is the longest-serving presenter on RTÉ television’s Ear to the Ground programme. He lives on a family farm in Co. Meath.

Jacqui Hurley is one of Ireland’s leading sports broadcasters. In 2009, she became the first ever female anchor of Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio One. She presents the daily sports bulletins on RTÉ’s Six One News and is also a regular anchor of RTÉ’s soccer output on television. She lives in Dublin with her husband Shane and her children, Luke and Lily.