Eoin Colfer
Most children’s authors dream up heroes—Eoin Colfer created a criminal mastermind. And not just any criminal, but a preteen genius armed with sarcasm, technology, and a pocket full of schemes. Artemis Fowl, the boy antihero who launched a global phenomenon, didn’t arrive in a blaze of prophecy or destiny—he hacked his way into fairyland and rewrote the rulebook. Colfer was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1965, a place he once described as “a sleepy town where nothing much happened—except in my imagination.” The son of a schoolteacher and an artist, he grew up in a household where stories and creativity weren’t just encouraged—they were woven…