Dolores Keaveney at home where she finds all her writing inspiration.

Mullingars answer to beatrix potter dolores keaveney launches latest book

Illustrator and children’s author Dolores Keaveney has released the latest in her series of Jenny and The Little Brown Hen books, The Adventures of Hungry The Chick.

The author chatted to us ahead of its launch at the Heart of Ireland (Hi) Festival, about where she finds her inspiration.

Painting for forty years, Dolores started writing in 2009, and has released a book every year since. And to great success for a self-publisher.

Not only are her books on the recommended reading list for primary schools, they have also been translated into Irish by Foras na Gaelige. Every new publication is snapped up by Kilkenny Design Centre, Leitrim Design House, and arts and crafts boutiques in Galway.

Her illustrations have taken off too. Shannonbridge Pottery already released a tea-set featuring her illustrations and she is about to launch her new Vinyl Wall Decals.

Dolores was always creative. She designed and fabricated her own clothing, as well as the curtains of her house. She was great with word play, entering slogan competitions and winning prizes all round her. One of the biggest was a trip to Hollywood with Coca Cola for her slogan 'Forget Hoffman, Cruise and Swayze, Diet Coke drives my taste buds crazy’.

“I did carpentry and guitar and lots of other things in night classes. I was part of the Lakeland Art Group for 25 years. Then I kind of branched out on my own. I started doing miniature water colours, and I painted on slate. Eventually I started going to craft fairs and my first was in the County Hall. It was a great success so it spurred me on to do more.

“One morning I woke with a poem in my head about the bees, I wrote it down, and that was it. I’m still doing a book every year since.”
So where does she get her creativity from? Well it stems from her childhood, or lack thereof, she believes.

“I’m reliving the childhood that I didn’t have. Years ago, we had to get out and get to work when we were very young. My father worked away and I don’t ever remember really being a little child.”

“Times were different. We were tougher. Children today are very protected, there’s every convenience for them now. Children of today don’t know hardship. For instance, they would never understand that you would have to go to the pump and get water for your house. That was my job. I had to go get two buckets from the pump, up on the bike, a half a mile away. I’d go in the evening every day after school. We hadn’t time for homework. We were doing our chores as my mother used to say.

Is the life of a self publisher hard work?
“Yes, absolutely. You will never make a living on it, it’s a hobby. If you want to really be successful as a self-publisher you have to put in the hard graft. I don’t care if I make a huge living on it, I don’t really know what I make. But I do it for the love of it. It allows me to be a child again. And for that I am very grateful.”

- The Adventures of Hungry the Chick is now available in book stores.