‘At it Again!’ brings literature to life in a fresh and playful way. The founders of the Dublin-based company, Spanish writer Maite López and Irish illustrator Niall Laverty, enable readers to explore Irish writers, their stories and the places that inspired them in a playful way.

“We were on a romp in the Dublin Mountains when a great little idea came bounding along”, says Laverty. ‘Bloomsday’ was approaching, the 4th of June – the day on which James Joyce’s novel Ulysses takes place. “We wanted to inspire people to love Dublin and stop fearing Ulysses. Our challenge was to take a big intimidating book and make it fun and accessible.” Within three months, the first title, Romping through Ulysses, was released. People loved the book so much that the couple was spurred on to tackle other Irish classics. Soon the ‘Romping through Irish Literature’ series became a reality.

Scaling up the business, however, required additional finance. López and Laverty turned to Microfinance Ireland, an EIF intermediary, which offered them a loan guaranteed by the EIF under the EU Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme. The programme aims to provide finance to micro-entrepreneurs and disadvantaged groups who want to set up or develop their own business. The support for ‘At it Again!’ has allowed the company to scale up its production. As a result, the business can now comfortably fulfil any request from retailers for larger orders and also produce at lower cost.