Frank O'Keeffe

Frank was born in Dublin, Ireland, and began his writing career there while in fourth grade. One day Frank’s regular teacher was ill, and his class was combined with another. In order to keep this large group of students quiet, the teacher offered a prize of sixpence for the student who could write the best story. Frank wrote a story about a plane carrying racehorses that crashed in the South American jungle. He won the sixpence prize, earning his first income as a writer.

Shortly after leaving school, Frank emigrated to Calgary, Canada, and got his first job in a bank in Kimberly, B.C. He returned to Calgary when he discovered that with much of Kimberly’s work force working in a mine for higher wages, room and board was taking up most of his bank wages. In Calgary, while working for an insurance company, he wrote skits for the annual Christmas party.

He next worked for an insurance broker for a few years, and wanting to see more of the world, he took his wife and then two-year-old daughter to explore Australia, travelling there by ship. He was immediately offered a job for a few months with the same insurance broker in Sydney. Then, with his wife and daughter, they travelled for several months, living in an old Volkswagen camper van and getting occasional jobs such as fruit picking, working on a huge sheep station, and as a janitor/gardener at a school. With the year almost up, they returned to Calgary, visiting the Phillipines, Hong Kong and Japan on the way.

Frank returned to the insurance business and became a partner in an insurance agency in Quesnel, B.C., moving there with his wife, daughter and young son. They lived on a quarter section of land in the forest about 17 kms west of Quesnel and while living in the area, his third child, another son, was born.

At this time Frank gave up his career in insurance and returned with his family to Calgary to attend the University of Calgary, where he obtained a Bachelor of Education degree and started a teaching career, moving to Edson, Alberta. There he was a part-time librarian at A.H. Dakin Elementary School and also taught second and third graders He took up writing again when he found that his class was expected to put on a performance a t the annual Chri stmas concert, and his original scripts got some rave reviews from both parents and the local newspaper. He also became the editor of the Teachers’ Association Newsletter for a few years and wrote a humorous column for a year for the local weekly newspaper.

He next moved to Pine Grove Elementary School in Edson and taught fourth graders. While working there he met fellow teacher Martyn Godfrey, who liked the pieces Frank wrote in the teachers’ newsletter. Martyn had just had his second youngadult/ children’s novel published and encouraged Frank to try writing a novel for young people. Frank came up with the idea for “Guppy Love”, told Martyn about it, and Martyn said, “It sounds great. If you don’t write it in three months, I’ll steal the idea.” Frank completed it in three months and “Guppy Love” became his first published novel.

Frank felt the urge to own land in the country again and shortly after starting teaching in Edson, with his wife’s encouragement, they bought a quarter section of land about 8 kms from town and built a house on the property. Before long he and his wife, who was teaching first graders, were raising cattle and chickens, and beekeeping. During the next few years Frank was able to use some of the events that happened on the farm, his two son’s involvement in minor hockey (his wife became the manager of a midget level hockey team), and the closing of a local school, turning them all into successful young adult novels.

Because he was travelling across Canada so much to do readings and writing workshops in schools and libraries, Frank took a leave of absence from teaching, and never went back. He continued writing, and with his wife moved to a home in Peachland in the Okanagan Valley. There Frank also took up work in two garden centres.

Recently he and his wife returned to live in Calgary. He is a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and The Alexandra Writers’ Centre of Calgary. He frequently takes part in the open mike opportunity at Owl’s Nest Book Store in Calgary to do readings of his work.