BIOGRAPHY

Jenni Barrett was born to Irish parents in Surrey, England in the seventies. Moving with her family to Dublin aged three, apparently Jenni went into a neighbour’s house with an English accent and came out with an Irish one!

Growing up in Stillorgan with her sister and two brothers, Jenni attended University College Dublin and graduated with a degree in History and Economics. She went on to a postgraduate diploma in Business Studies before starting her working life with The Ireland Fund of Great Britain. She soon returned to Ireland, and spent over two decades working in communications, marketing and leadership roles with Irish charities, foundations, schools and colleges, before joining the ranks of the Irish civil service in 2020.

WRITING & WILDLIFE

Jenni won her first publishing contract in the TV3 Write a Bestseller Competition in 2013, and went on to publish Look into the Eye and The Songbird’s Way with Poolbeg Press. Over the years, she has contributed to short story collections, newspapers and online blogs and recently completed Swim Free, her first novel for children. She has been vice-chair of The Irish Writers Centre and a member of the board of Children’s Books Ireland.

Also a keen wildlife photographer, Jenni has enjoyed many great wildlife encounters around the world and the settings of her books are very much influenced by her travels. There are many parallels between the natural world and the inner worlds of her characters, and her first novel, Look into the Eye was inspired by a magical trip photographing orcas underwater in the Norwegian Sea.

Speaking about the book, the Irish Independent said:

" This is an exceptional debut novel, stirring, funny and eloquent. Barrett writes passionately about whales and intertwines her own experiences with those of her characters. "

/  IRISH INDEPENDENT  /

Jenni enjoys a bracing dip in the Irish sea, or taking her beloved cavachon dog, Marli for adventures in the hills. Her favourite thing of all though is spending time with good friends and family, especially her nine nieces and nephews ‘the niecephews’.