Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) is the New York Times best-selling author of the blockbuster Artemis Fowl series as well as Airman; Half Moon Investigations; The Supernaturalist; Eoin Colfer's Legend of... books; The Wish List; Benny and Omar; Benny and Babe; and Illegal, a graphic novel. He was born in Wexford on the southeast coast of Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father (an elementary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama teacher). He first developed an interest in writing in primary (elementary) school with gripping Viking stories inspired by history that he was learning in school at the time. Eoin got his degree from Dublin University and qualified as a primary school teacher, returning to work in Wexford. He married in 1991 and he and his wife spent about 4 years between 1992 and 1996 working in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Italy. His first book, Benny and Omar, was published in 1998, based on his experiences in Tunisia; it has since been translated into many languages; a sequel followed in 1999. In 2001, the first Artemis Fowl book was published worldwide to much success - shortly thereafter he left teaching to concentrate fully on his writing. To this day, Eoin has written 8 Artemis Fowl books which have sold over 12 million copies worldwide.