Gerard Whelan (born 1957), is an Irish writer.

Career overview

Whelan was born in

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, and has lived and worked in several

European countries The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...

. After some time living in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, he has returned to live in his native

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. He is the author of many books for children and is a multiple award-winner. He has also written the non-fiction book ''Spiked: Church, State Intrigue and the Rose Tattoo'' and edited the anthology, ''Big Pictures''. He is married and has 1 son called Davy. ''The Guns of Easter'', ''A Winter of Spies'' and ''War Children'' are

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

based on the Irish struggle for independence in the early 20th century, while ''Dream Invader'' and ''Out of Nowhere'' are

fantasy novels Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

Bibliography

*''The Guns of Easter'' (

O'Brien Press The O'Brien Press is an Irish publisher of mainly children's fiction and adult non-fiction. History The O'Brien Press was founded in 1973, evolving out of a family-run printing and type-house. Its first publication came in November 1974 and nume ...

, 1996) *''Dream Invader'' (O'Brien, 1997) *''A Winter of Spies'' (O'Brien, 1998) *''Big Pictures'' (editor) (LETS, 1998) *''Out of Nowhere'' (O'Brien, 1999) *''War Children'' (O'Brien, 2002) *''Spiked: Church, State Intrigue and the Rose Tattoo'' (New Island, 2002)

Awards

*''The Guns of Easter'' won the Eilís Dillon Memorial Award for first-time writers and a Merit Award at the 1997

Bisto Book of the Year Awards The CBI Book of the Year Awards ( ga, Duaiseanna Leabhair na Bliana CBI), previously known as the Bisto Book of the Year Awards, are literary awards presented annually in the Republic of Ireland to writers and illustrators of books for children ...

*''Dream Invader'' won Book of the Year at the 1998

*''War Children'' won a Merit Award at the 2003

References

External links

Gerard Whelan
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Gerard Living people Irish novelists Irish children's writers People from County Wexford People from Enniscorthy Irish male novelists 1957 births