John Dougherty is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

children's writer, born in the town of

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

in 1964. He now lives in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s; during this period, he began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career. From November 2013 – 2015, he was chair of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group (CWIG), a sub-group of the UK's

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Published books

;Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Badness of Badgers (2014) *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine (2014) *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Evilness of Pizza (2015) *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Bees of Stupidity (2015) *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers (2016) *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Kerfuffle Christmas Kidnap (2016) all above illustrated by David Tazzyman ;Picture books *There's a Pig Up My Nose (2017), with illustrator Laura Hughes *The Hare-Shaped Hole (2023), with illustrator Thomas Docherty ;Zeus *Zeus on the Loose (2004) *Zeus to the Rescue (2007) *Zeus Sorts It Out (2011) ;Bansi O'Hara *Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy (2008) *Bansi O'Hara and the Edges of Hallowe'en (2011) ;Jack Slater *Jack Slater, Monster Investigator (2006) *Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom (2009) ;Stand-alones *Niteracy Hour (2005) *Mark & Shark: Detectiving & Stuff (2019) ;Reading books for schools include *Finn MacCool & the Giant's Causeway (2011) - a retelling of the Irish legend for the Oxford Reading Tree *Twice Upon a Time (2014) - part of the Treetops Chucklers (OUP) range *A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range *The Story of Sir Dave (2014) - part of the OUP Project X range *The Tempest (2015) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range *Astron (2015) - for the Oxford Reading Tree *The Fall of Julius Caesar (2017) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range *Antony & Cleopatra (2017) - a retelling of the Shakespeare story for the Collins' Big Cats range *Holiday of a Lifetime (2019) - for Treetops (OUP) ;Poetry *Dinosaurs & Dinner-Ladies (2016), illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones

Awards and nominations

*Zeus on the Loose was shortlisted for the

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is s ...

2005 *Niteracy Hour was shortlisted for the Nottingham Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Coventry Inspiration Raring 2 Read Award 2008 *Jack Slater, Monster Investigator was shortlisted for the Ottakars' Children's Book Prize 2006 *Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers was shortlisted for the inaugural Eugenie Summerfield Children's Book Prize 2018 *There's a Pig Up My Nose won

Oscar's Book Prize Oscar's Book Prize is a British children's book prize awarded annually to a book for pre-school age children, which was first published in the UK during the previous calendar year. The £5,000 prize is supported by the London Evening Standard and ...

2018 *Mark & Shark: Detecting & Stuff was a runner-up in the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards 2021 *The Hare-Shaped Hole won the Junior Juries’ Award and the Judges’ Special Award at the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards 2024 and the United Kingdom Literacy Association Award (3-6+) 2024. It was also shortlisted for

2024

References

External links

*
John Dougherty, author
at literary agent AM Heath & Co Ltd
Author webpage
at publisher Oxford University Press

at publisher Random House {{DEFAULTSORT:Dougherty, John 1964 births British children's writers Male writers from Northern Ireland Living people 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland