Artemis Fowl writer Eoin Colfer is going back to his roots

Artemis Fowl creator Eoin Colfer was happy to switch to drama for a play in his hometown, writes Marjorie Brennan

Tue, 21 Oct, 2014 - 01:00

EOIN COLFER has achieved success most writers can only dream of, selling more than 20 million copies of his books and becoming a regular on the New York Times bestseller list.

The creator of the phenomenally popular Artemis Fowl series has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for his novel Airman, which was recently selected as one of the top 100 modern children’s classics of the last 10 years. But Colfer’s feet have remained firmly on the ground despite all the critical plaudits and commercial rewards and he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

Colfer is part of the production WexFour, which marks the 40th anniversary of Wexford Arts Centre, the oldest regional arts centre in Ireland. It features four specially-commissioned short plays by Colfer and fellow Wexford authors John Banville, Billy Roche and Colm Toíbín.

Colfer was happy to give something back to an organisation which gave him a helping hand when he was starting out as a writer.

“I just went in and said ‘I’ve written a play, can I put it on’, and they said, ‘Sure, any help we can give you we will’. That is invaluable, to have somewhere like that to nurture your talent but which will also tell you when something is not working. It’s not a fairyland where everyone tells you you’re amazing, it’s a real proving ground where you’ll learn very quickly what works and what doesn’t in theatre.”

Consequently, when drama director Ben Barnes and Elizabeth White, the director of the Wexford Arts Centre, approached Colfer they were pushing an open door.

“I was delighted, but when I found out that Ben Barnes was going to direct, and that John Banville, Colm Toibin, and Billy Roche were also writing plays, I thought, ‘this is a nice little step up for me on the theatrical side’. So I was more than happy to do it, but also terrified.

“I know Billy since I was 15, I know Colm a long time and I’ve gotten to know John recently. We’re all quite friendly, and Ben was a good friend of my parents, so there’s a good atmosphere. Also, Don Wycherley is doing my play, I’ve been an admirer of his work since Bachelors Walk and Father Ted, so just to meet him, it’s been real fun. I’ve been sitting here at rehearsals as a bit of a fanboy while they’re making references to Ibsen and stuff.”

Colfer’s father was a historian and his mother a drama teacher: their influence sparked his imagination, as did his surroundings as a child.

“My parents’ house is in a triangle between the lighthouse at Hook Head, a Norman castle and a haunted mansion, Loftus Hall. It’s an amazing place, you tell people in America about this and they just don’t believe it, it sounds like a movie.”

It was certainly fertile ground for a writer, as is illustrated by the genesis of Airman, his critically acclaimed historical adventure novel.

“It’s set in Wexford, on the Saltee Islands,” he says, “It’s personal to me because my dad used to bring us out there and he’d tell me there’s a prince on the Saltee Islands, and I’d say ‘What?’. And he told me this guy had bought the islands and insisted on being called the prince.

And of course this set off my imagination, I thought of how it would work as a principality.”

The young Colfer was also influenced by Irish authors such as Patricia Lynch, who wrote The Turf-Cutter’s Donkey. He says it stood out because it was an Irish book. “I realised that the best children’s books didn’t have to be English or American, that an Irish person could write a great kid’s book.”

Nearer home, the playwright Billy Roche was a big inspiration. The fact that someone he knew had written a novel helped as well.

“He was also instrumental because he wrote the book Tumbling Down when I was young. And I knew Billy, he was like a normal guy, so that really helped, it demystified the act of writing stories.”

As a former teacher, Colfer was the perfect candidate for the role of Laureate na nÓg, a post which he was appointed to this year and will hold until 2016.

“It was something I really wanted to do and I was glad to be asked. I’m taking a year off to do laureate stuff, and it’s great. As laureate I can ring up Roddy Doyle and say, ‘Right, Doyler, get yourself down to Wexford when you’re finished with that Keane fella’.

“I’m kidding, obviously, but there’s a brilliant team. You mention someone and they say, ‘Yeah we have their phone number’. I feel the kids of Ireland have made my career, so it’s nice in a way to be able to go out and just read them stories, not to have sell books.”

As well as promoting the joys of reading to Irish children and contributing to Wexford Arts Centre’s celebrations, Colfer also recently donated a screen play to students on the Filmbase/Staffordshire University MSc in Digital Feature Film Production. The film, Poison Pen, was shown at the Galway Film Fleadh during the summer. He says the success of Artemis Fowl has allowed him pursue such projects.

“I’m in a very fortunate position because unlike most people I can say ‘I’ll make no money for the year’ and just enjoy the work. Then again, if you’re doing creative work for money it’s a tiny bit tainted. I can afford to say that but if I wasn’t making the Artemis money I would do whatever it took to keep writing.”

Hollywood came knocking for Colfer more than a decade ago when film producer Harvey Weinstein bought the film rights to Artemis Fowl. The road to getting it made has been a long and winding one.

“They’re still trying, they sent over three producers who met Enda Kenny and went around to various possible locations. It’s pretty good and at the moment they’re talking to a big-name director, and if he says yes it’s all systems go.”

Colfer has already done a draft screenplay with filmmaker Jim Sheridan and his daughter Naomi, which has been revised.

“I think they’re using a lot of that, but it is a new take on it. I read it and I’m very happy with it, it’s a very good script.”

So, is he ever tempted to decamp and head for the Hollywood hills?

“We’ve travelled, we lived in France and Italy and I’d love to live in California for a year. I have a dream of sitting on a beach in Malibu and writing a book as the sun goes down. But Wexford is our home.”