Eoin Colfer (born May 14, 1965) is an Irish author of chilren's books and a comedian. He is most famous for having written the Artemis Fowl series, but has written other works that have also been successful. His novels are sometimes compared to those of J. K. Rowling, and like Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl is used as a reference to describe the work of other writers e.g. Jack Heath and Mark Walden.