Olympic boxer to launch new book by Dolores
Dolores Keaveney, one of Westmeath’s best-known and most popular authors, releases two new children’s books this autumn.
The first, Huwie Has a Visitor, is inspired by Dolores’s grandchildren, and in that story, a mysterious but skilled player joins brothers Huwie and AJ for an unforgettable game of football.
The second book, The Lions, the Bees and the Bogs, is the fruit of a collaboration with Tullamore Lions Club. A magical adventure, it transports a lion to Offaly, to highlight the importance of bogs and why conservation is essential.
The Irish landscape features strongly in all of Dolores’s work but The Lions, the Bees and the Bogs also takes in the African tundra and includes spectacular scenes that are quite a departure from Dolores’s typical illustrations.
“I really don’t know how I did it and it only took three months in all… divinely inspired!” said Dolores.
A special event at Hullabaloo Children’s Arts Festival, will celebrate the release of The Lions, the Bees and the Bogs. The book will be launched by Olympic athlete and Team Ireland boxer Gráinne Walsh at 2pm on Thursday, October 31, in Esker Arts, Tullamore.
Dolores’s picture books, which celebrate the magic found in nature, have gained acclaim at home and overseas, and one story, Dee the Bee, is being published in Australian.
Frequently compared to Beatrix Potter, Dolores illustrates all her books with her own hand-painted watercolours. She is the first Irish person to have a series of story walks located all over Ireland dedicated to their work.
“I always say I am finished writing and illustrating books but then another story always comes to me, so we will see what happens next,” says Dolores.
Releasing two new books in one month is a first even for this prolific writer, who published her first story at the age of 60 and has since travelled the length and breadth of the country promoting her work as well as maintaining a strong online presence.
With now more than 20 books to her name, Dolores has been featured in the Irish Independent, the Irish Examiner, the Farmer’s Journal, the Westmeath Examiner and the Westmeath Independent, and has appeared on RTÉ’s Nationwide.
Huwie Has a Visitor and The Lions, the Bees and the Bogs are available from doloreskeaveney.com and selected craft outlets and bookshops including Mullingar Pewter and Just Books.