Alex Dunne is an Irish author living in Canada. She spends her time thinking up magical tales for children, teens and adults and drinking far too much tea. Alex has a BA in English & History from the University of Limerick and an MA in Literature & Publishing from NUI Galway. She is a co-founder of Silver Apples magazine, an online literary journal dedicated to showcasing the best of Irish and international writing. The Book of Secrets is her first published novel. You can follow Alex on Twitter and Instagram @alexdunnewrites
Bernard Dunne was born and raised in Neilstown, west Dublin, the place he still calls home. The son of Olympic boxer Brendan Dunne, he competed in his first boxing match at six years old, and spent the next twenty-three years training and perfecting his craft. Narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, Bernard went on to a hugely successful professional career, with twenty-eight wins from thirty fights. He finally beat Ricardo Cordoba in a dramatic eleventh-round knockout at the Point Depot in Dublin in 2009 to become super-bantamweight World Champion. Since retiring from boxing, Bernard has written two books and several television series, worked with the Dublin Gaelic football team and as a sports analyst on RTÉ television, and become the High-Performance Director of Irish Boxing. Bernard lives in Dublin with his wife Pamela and their two children, Caoimhe and Finnian.
Des Ekin is a retired journalist and the author of four books. Born in County Down, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a reporter. After spending several years covering the Ulster Troubles, he rose to become Deputy Editor of the Belfast Sunday News before moving to his current home in Dublin. He worked as a journalist, columnist, Assistant Editor and finally Political Correspondent for The Sunday World until 2012. His book The Stolen Village (2006) was shortlisted for the Argosy Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year and for Book of the Decade in the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards 2010. He is married with a son and two daughters.
Originally from Boston, Michael Emberley has lived in Ireland for 15 years. After writing and illustrating in the US for over 40 years, this is his debut Irish children’s book.
Recent titles include The Message: The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Text Message, I Did It! and I Can Make a Train Noise with Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.
He lives in an old stone horse stable in County Meath.
Glyn Evans is a microbiologist with a passion for animal welfare and environmental conservation. Together with his partner and two sons, he lives on a farm in County Meath. It’s important to him that his sons grow up with animals around them and can learn about protecting nature. Wanting to share their love of animals with other children and adults, the family opened their farm to the public. Through providing animal therapy, and educating visitors on the small things we can all do to help our environment, they hoped to reduce animal cruelty. While the farm is no longer open to the public, Glyn continues to reach out to both children and adults and help them to understand the importance of animals and the environment. Find out more at his Facebook page, ‘Trim Alpacas’.
