Paul Geraghty, born in South Africa in 1959, grew up among wild animals and began drawing from an early age. In spite of the idyllic surroundings, he chose to spend his childhood fighting the Second World War alongside his best friend. At school he took requests and drew aeroplanes for his classmates. He wrote and illustrated stories about the war.
When peace returned he completed a degree in Fine Art and English with Higher Diploma in Education at the University of Natal. He funded his student life by playing keyboards in a band on weekends. Later original recordings got airplay, achieving minimal fame and no fortune. He painted for a year, taught English and Art for two, then worked as a copywriter for a year, winning awards in the U.K. and U.S.A.
Since moving to England in 1986 he has been an author/illustrator of children's picture books and teenage fiction, often visiting schools, libraries and colleges as well as conducting the occasional writers' workshop.
He is very fond of words, and travels extensively in search of them. His picture book The Hunter was short listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration, and won the Earthworm Award (sponsored by Friends of the Earth), while Solo won the Children's Book Award - out of 392 books, judged by 70 000 children nationwide. His first novel, Pig, won the Longmans Young Africa Award, and more recently, Tortuga and Rotten & Rascal have both won awards in France.
Other interests include music, photography, scuba diving and travel.

Paul Geraghty attempts to disprove the 'Men can't multi-task' myth by talking, drawing and showing slides all at once. (Click for larger image)

Curious human beings watch Paul Geraghty finishing off a drawing at the end of a talk. (Click for larger image)