Anna McQuinn author page

Anna McQuinn biography

Anna McQuinn is an Irish children’s author, editor and publisher. She studied English and History at University College Cork and completed a Higher Diploma specialising in children’s literature before teaching English.

McQuinn worked in children’s publishing for more than 20 years as an editor and publisher. Her publishing roles included work at Frances Lincoln and DeAgostini, and in 1998 she co-founded the children’s publisher Zero to Ten.

Her community library work with young children and families led to Lulu Loves the Library, the first book in her Lulu/Lola series. In the UK and Ireland, the series is published by Alanna Max as the Lulu books; in the United States and Canada, Charlesbridge publishes the books with the character name Lola.

McQuinn’s picture books include Lulu Loves the Library, Lulu Loves Stories, Lulu Reads to Zeki, Lulu Gets a Cat, Lulu’s First Day, Zeki Goes to the Market and Zeki Gets a Checkup. Her regular illustrators include Rosalind Beardshaw for the Lulu/Lola books and Ruth Hearson for the Zeki books.

In 2018, McQuinn and Ken Wilson-Max founded Alanna Max, an inclusive picture-book publisher, where McQuinn is Editor-at-Large.

Zeki Goes to the Market, illustrated by Ruth Hearson and published by Alanna Max, was longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2026 and shortlisted for the Inclusive Books for Children Awards 2026.