When A Handful of Stars by Billy Roche was staged at The Bush Theatre, London in 1988, it was described by The Guardian as ‘one of the year’s great theatre events.’ 

In June, Four Rivers will stage the first professional revival of A Handful of Stars at Wexford Arts Centre (6 – 16 June) with Gary Lydon and Dermot Murphy.

At Wexford Library on June 04 at 7 p.m., novelist Eoin Colfer, in an interview with Tom Mooney, will discuss both the influence of fellow Wexford-writer Billy Roche on his early writing and indeed his own celebrated career as one of the bestselling novelists in the world.
Eoin was born in Wexford 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). 
His first book, Benny and Omar, was published in 1998, based on his experiences in Tunisia; it has since been translated into many languages. In 2001 the first Artemis Fowl book was published and he was able to resign from teaching and concentrate fully on writing.

Since then, Artemis Fowl, which was named the public’s favourite Puffin Modern Classic of all time, has sold in excess of 25 million copies and has been translated into 40 languages. There are eight books in the series, alongside numerous companion books, limited edition releases, audiobooks and digital releases. 

In 2019, a brand new spin-off series called The Fowl Twins was released by Disney Books (US) and HarperCollins (UK). This new trilogy features Artemis Fowl’s younger brothers Myles and Beckett Fowl and follows their own exciting adventures as they outsmart their opponents, make contact with the Fairy world and get themselves into all sorts of trouble. 

An Artemis Fowl Movie was directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh and stars Ferdia Shaw (Artemis Fowl), Lara McDonnell (Holly Short), Josh Gad (Mulch Diggums), Nonso Anozie (Domovoi Butler), Dame Judy Dench (Commander Root), Colin Farrell (Artemis Fowl Sr.) and more. 
In 2009, Eoin was commissioned by Douglas Adams’ estate to write And Another Thing, the concluding episode of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, which became a worldwide bestseller. Eoin also writes crime novels featuring Irish bouncer Daniel McEvoy. The third and final book in his WARP sci-fi series was released in summer 2015.  

Other book titles include The Wish List, The Supernaturalist and the Legends series for younger readers. Eoin’s books have won numerous awards including The British Children’s Book of the Year, The Irish Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year and The German Children’s Book of the Year. The BBC made a hit series based on his book Half Moon Investigations.

Booking is essential. 

Should you require additional supports to attend this event, please contact Wexford Library 053-9196760.