James Mannes Bourke comes from Dublin. He is a retired university lecturer who specialised in language education (TESL). He has published many academic papers and monographs on various aspects of language education. Since taking retirement in 2008, he has turned to creative writing and published a novel, Under the Alien Sky, and a collection of short stories, Footprints in the Mind. More recently, he has written a second novel, Confessions of an Alien, and two plays for television called Two Plays for Tuppence. He has a special interest in historical fiction, and he is currently working on a collection of stories from Irish history. He hopes to publish more short stories in the coming years based on his many years of working and living in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Few writers have surpassed the author in depicting the colorful and exotic life of the native people in the so-called Third World. He has a special eye for the eccentric and the rare ability to express it in delightful prose. He is a natural storyteller, and his short stories in particular are a joy to read. Dr. Bourke has more than a passing interest in language and language education. He spent over thirty years training future teachers of English as a second language. He is working on an English grammar textbook for ESL students and a primer for teachers of English called Language Awareness for Language Teachers. He still does some consultancy work as an English language (ESL) specialist. Academic qualifications: Diploma in Education, 1960; BA, University College Cork, 1968; MA Applied Linguistics, University of Essex, 1978; PhD, Linguistic Problem-Solving, Trinity College, Dublin, 1992. More information about the author can be found on his, website www.jamesmannesbourke.com.
