Annette Frances Kelleher

Background

Annette Kelleher was born on June 13, 1950, in Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland. She is a daughter of Albert Fredrick Greenfield (a watchmaker) and Hanorah Frances Simcox (a homemaker). She emigrated to Australia in 1978.

Education

Annatte Kelleher graduated from Holy Cross College (Kenmare, Ireland), in 1968.

Career

Kelleher worked variously for National Westminister Bank. N.C.R., and Avis, London, England, 1968-1973. Since 1984 she has been a co-owner with husband Papaw & Mango Orchard. She also worked as a part-time teacher’s aide, in 1990, 1994-1995.

Achievements

• Annette Kelleher is an outstanding child author. Her books are loved by young readers.

Works

More photos

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  • Noodles on Our Ceiling 1994
  • Leprechaun on the Loose 2001
  • Seaweed in Our Soup 1996

Views

Quotations: “I am very passionate about writing. Friends of mine have said that when the word ‘writing’ enters a conversation, my face lights up and I never run out of enthusiasm for the subject. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without this burning passion for words."

“I was a writer even before I knew I was a writer. It was just something I always dabbled in. I was about thirty before it even occurred to me that I might be able to write a book. Real writers were people with names like Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, or Leon Uris. It seemed very presumptuous to even consider myself capable of achieving this amazing feat, but once I had decided to do it, I pursued my goal in a very single-minded and determined fashion."

“Writing for children was something I had always been interested in, and when 1 worked as a teacher’s aide, I found that the reluctant readers and the children with learning difficulties got bored really easily with slow or unnecessarily descriptive passages. I was writing Noodles on Our Ceiling at the time and those reluctant readers became my target. I wanted to write a book that would capture their attention and hold it to the end. I wanted to write books that children would enjoy rather than books which adults would consider ‘suitable reading.’ I wanted to pass on my love of words and the enjoyment of reading to children. I hope I’ve done this."

“I like my books to deal with everyday issues, but I like positive results, and I always like to end with a note of hope. At one stage during the writing of Pumpkin Head Is Dead!, I was concerned because the story was sad and depressing and I didn’t really like the way it was going. Then ‘hope’ popped up in the form of Richard and I could suddenly see my way to a more positive ending."

“I don’t plan my books at all. Usually, I start with an interesting opening sentence and plow on from there. Pumpkin Head was the exception to that method. I had a dream one night about a car crash, a girl who was upset and her father breaking the bad news to her. I got up and wrote the dream in a notebook. It was about four-thirty in the morning, so I decided to gel up and have a cup of tea and do some writing. Then I felt I had to write an Irish fable, so I wrote the story of “The Children of Lir.” I was a bit puzzled as I’d expected to write about the dream. Months later that fable ended up in Pumpkin Head, so it’s the first book which I didn’t start at the beginning.”

“My books always have some underlying moral theme. Even though I don’t actually set out to write on a moral issue, one always manages to work itself in. I feel that this is quite important when writing for children. A book can be fun to read and still teach an important lesson.”

Membership

Annette Kelleher is a member of Queensland Writers.

• 

  Queensland Writers

Interests

• Music, reading, “having cups of tea with [my husband] Tony, walking on the beach, and more writing”

Connections

Annette Kelleher married Anthony Noel Kelleher (a fitter), on June 13, 1970. They have four children: David, Tracey, Alison, Anthony.

Father:

Albert Fredrick Greenfield

Mother:

Hanorah Frances Simcox

Spouse:

Anthony Noel Kelleher

Son:

David Kelleher

Daughter:

Tracey Kelleher

Daughter:

Alison Kelleher

Son:

Anthony Kelleher

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vol. 194
  2010