Little Island sign two English titles by leading Irish-language author Máire Zepf
Little Island Books have announced the acquisition of the English-language debut by leading Irish-language author Máire Zepf. World rights in all languages for The Cloud Kingdom have been acquired directly from the author by publisher Matthew Parkinson-Bennett.
Little Island have also signed world English rights in Zepf’s award-winning Irish-language picturebook Míp, illustrated by Paddy Donnelly. Rights were acquired by Parkinson-Bennett from Irish-language publisher Futa Fata.
The Cloud Kingdom will be illustrated by Belfast artist Andrew Whitson and published in Ireland and the UK in September 2025 in a full-colour, hardback Christmas gift edition.
An archipelago of inter-connecting modern fairytales and fantasies, told by Nancy, our human guide in the land of faeries, The Cloud Kingdom celebrates the craft of storytelling, showing us how one tale is never too far away from another.
Míp will be published in English as Meep in Febraury 2025, translated by the author. This sweet and funny picturebook, a winner at the 2021 Literacy Association of Ireland Awards, tells the story of a robot sent to discover life on Mars. When Meep fails to report back to Earth, her human friends fear the worst. Desperate to make contact, they beam a love song into space. Míp was originally published by Galway-based Irish children’s press Futa Fata.
Máire Zepf has written 16 books for children of all ages. She is the winner of five Literacy Association of Ireland Awards, two White Ravens, and authored the first and only Irish-language book to win Book of the Year at the KPMG–Children’s Books Ireland Awards. Máire served as the first Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, based at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s University Belfast.
Little Island’s Parkinson-Bennett said that Máire is one of the best and best-loved children’s writers in Ireland. ‘We are excited to be bringing her work to our English-language audience at home and in the UK and USA. We’re also really pleased that two of Ireland’s finest illustrators, Paddy Donnelly and Andrew Whitson, will be joining the Little Island list!’
Máire Zepf said she was over the moon to be working with Little Island. ‘This marks the start of a new chapter for me as an English-language author as well as writing in Irish. Little Island’s enthusiasm and care have made me really excited to share this work with new audiences.’
