Educated at University College in Dublin, Maeve Friel's first short story, "Irrational Developments," won the 1990 Sunday Tribune/Hennessy Literary Award for an emerging writer. Subsequently, she has written several books for children, including The Lantern Moon, which was awarded a 1996-97 Bisto Book of the Year Merit Award, The Deerstone, and Distant Voices, both of which were short-listed for the Bisto Book Award. She is a recipient of a Reading Association of Ireland Merit Award. Friel lives with her family in Dublin, Ireland.