PAUL BREEN 

I am an author from Ireland who now lives and works in London, with a wife and a cat - each of whom is held in equal measure in my affections. The cat's name is Gobolino after the famous witch's cat in the children's story by Ursula Moray Williams. One day perhaps I might write Gobolino's autobiography, and her adventures with the cats of Kashmir and Meridian Roads in Charlton. 

 

For the meantime though (the period and not the craft beer) I am focusing on completing a trilogy and continuing to work on some academic publications as well. I have a number of projects in the pipeline and am also currently helping several other Irish writers to start, finish, or edit their respective works. 

 

Like David Copperfield and everybody else who has ever graced life or London, I was born, I observed, and I enjoyed memorable birthdays and moments along the way, and perhaps sometimes too fell into moments of disgrace, such is the way of the world. 

 

I grew up, worked in newspapers, a boring Godawful government job, and attempted film and television writing before becoming a teacher and then a traveller of the world before settling down again in London, where I became a university lecturer and supporter of Charlton Athletic Football Club. 

 

My travels in the days before I graced the side of the Thames - sometimes as drunk as Dickens - and other times as philoshophical as Pepys - took me to places as diverse as the tropics of north eastern Australia and the borders of North and South Korea. I ate kimchee in the latter and thus now expect to be immortal for the rest of my days, much like The Highlander, though have not spent near enough time in Scotland. As a Charlton Athletic I must at least pay one pilgramage to The Mull of Kintyre. 

 

I love writing and my literary influences are highly diverse, going back to my student days at Queens University, Belfast where I took an English Literature & Language degree in the 1990s - a time of troubles that have now since passed - hopefully. I am a huge fan of poetry, especially Heaney, Yeats, MacNeice, and others lesser known. I love the writings of James Baldwin, the way his cities and characters became one - sharing moods, pathos, and sometimes similar destinies. Graham Greene too, and others ranging from contemporary Irish authors and the darkness of JM Coetzee to the humour of Bill Bryson. I'm inspired too by film, moreso older works than modern, and by music - though I have gotten out of the habit of working to music since it distracts me too much and I get far more done without it.

 

Other interests include involvement in community action groups, family history, walking, sightseeing, and supporting animal charities - though I do also support fundraising for cancer, mental health, and other issues. I am also a passionate educator, particularly in the teaching of writing, speaking, presentation skills, study skills, academic convention, media, technology assisted learning, and related subjects.

 

Aside from this, I have just completed a PhD in Education through the University of Manchester and am looking forward to getting back into the real world in 2015 - though also hoping to dip back into my PhD to tell the story of my research in a way that goes beyond the boundaries of academia. I want to take my research out of its ivory tower, and share a story of teacher development in the 21st century with others.

 

Lastly, I like to drink craft beer every so often - and visit Ireland - my home county of Fermanagh, and the seaside at Bundoran in County Donegal. I also have a soft spot for Mayo as that is where my grandfather's people come from, and they are the county I support in the All-Ireland championship every year.