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 the short story, and his topics range from life in Ireland to Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. He is currently working on a collection of Oriental stories. He seems to have the rare ability to capture in words the colourful way of life of people in remote places and their age-old culture. 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 in applied linguistics, University of Essex, 1978; and PhD in linguistic problem-solving, Trinity College, Dublin, 1992. More information about the author can be found in his website, www.jamesmannesbourke.com.
