Also, I'm Laureate na nOg at the moment, which is the ambassador for children's literature. My project has been this book,
Once Upon a Place. I believe that Ireland is a really magical place, and most of the stories and poems in the book come from very specific places in Ireland. We gathered a roadshow of storytellers and we go to places where you wouldn't normally get a bunch of storytellers. We've been to halting sites and Tory Island and Hook Lighthouse.
Initially, I started writing for adults, but after I started to teach, I realised that I had an affinity with kids. I was able to get through to them by doing things that you're not supposed to do. I was an awfully sarcastic teacher and boys especially loved this. If you insulted them horrendously, they thought it was fantastic. The girls would be offended if I wasn't being nasty to them as well. I think in Ireland we use that sort of slagging as a type of affection.
Read the full article on The Irish Independent website