The Author

Eoin Colfer, pronounced as "Owen", was born in Wexford, Ireland in 14th day of May 1965. His family is also attached to arts and literature, being his mother a drama artist and teacher, and stage writer while his father is a school teacher, historian and artist of note. It was during his elementary days when Eoin developed interest in writing. His first artistic production was a play for his class in his sixth grade about the Norse gods.

Dublin University is the name of the university where Eoin Colfer gained his degree. After graduating, he became qualified as a primary school teacher, following the steps that his father took. In 1992, he left Ireland together with his wife to pursue teaching. Over a period of years, he travelled to East Africa, Asia and Italy. During his travel, his desire to write was once again lit, enabling him to publish his first book entitled Benny and Omar in 1998.

Because of his work as a teacher of students with disabilities and emotional challenges, Eion developed great understanding of children and how to capture their interest.

In 2001, Eion left his teaching career in order to become full-time writer. His famous work is the Artemis Fowl series, which is compared to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter more often than not. However, he condemns the comparison because he believes that his work is a modern fairy tale. It is a fact that you can't please anybody, even if you're a good writer. Eion received a lot of criticism because of his being too violent to children through his work. This is still an open argument as of the moment.

His birthplace and hometown proved to be an influence when he was writing Artemis Fowl. Irish mythology was based on the Celtic mythology, the ancestors of the Irish. In the Celtic mythology, one of the most popular creature was the leprechaun. This is where Eion, I believe, got his idea of the LEPrecon, the group of the fairies that Artemis meddled with. Also, his travel in Asia, specifically in Asia, became the influence of how the story was introduced and narrated. The rest of it is stated in the setting part. Artemis Fowl is the author's way of reminiscing the past and paying tribute to the things that made him to what he is today.

Sources:
http://www.eoincolfer.com/
http://www.famousauthors.org/eoin-colfer