Megan Nolan

Megan Nolan
Born1990 (age 33–34)
County Waterford, Ireland
OccupationJournalist, novelist
Notable worksActs of Desperation (2021)

Megan Nolan (born 1990)[1] is an Irish journalist, and author from County Waterford. Her debut novel, Acts of Desperation,[2] was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize[3] and was one of the four awardees of the 2022 Betty Trask Award for debut novels.

Biography

Nolan's father Jim Nolan was a theatre director and founder of the Red Kettle theatre company based in Waterford.[4][5] She studied film studies and French at Trinity College Dublin, but dropped out before completion of her studies.[6][5]

She has written essays and literary criticism for the New Statesman.[2] In 2018, she wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times that detailed how she had come to hate England and English people.[7] She subsequently moved from London to New York City.

Acts of Desperation was a Betty Trask Awardee for debut novels in 2022.[8] Ordinary Human Failings was shortlisted for the 2023 Gordon Burn Prize for "books that push boundaries, cross genres or otherwise challenge readers’ expectations",[9][10] as well as for the 2024 Encore Award, given by the Royal Society of Literature to celebrate the "difficult second novel" that follows an author's literary debut.[11]

Awards

Year Work Award Result Ref
2021 Acts of Desperation Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award — Shortlisted [12]
2022

Betty Trask Award

— Won [13]
Dylan Thomas Prize — Longlisted [14]
2023 Ordinary Human Failings Gordon Burn Prize Shortlisted [15]
Nero Book Award Fiction Shortlisted [16]
2024 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Shortlisted [17]

Bibliography

  • —— (2021). Acts of Desperation (1st hardcover ed.). Random House. p. 288. ISBN 9780316429856.
  • —— (2023). Ordinary Human Failings (1st hardcover ed.). Jonathan Cape. ISBN 9781787332508.
  • ——; Pettifer, Amy; Chingonyi, Kayo; Turner, Luke; Biddle, Lucy; Underwood, Jack (2018). Lloyd Worthington, Bethan (ed.). Windswept Baby. Bethan Lloyd Worthington. ISBN 9781789260342.

References

  1. ^ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19607931.Megan_Nolan
  2. ^ a b Feigel, Lara (3 March 2021). "Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan review – learning to say no". TheGuardian.com.
  3. ^ "Diverse and global voices dominate the longlist for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize". Swansea.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  4. ^ Brennan, Marjorie (24 October 2022). "Book interview: Megan Nolan on discovering one of Waterford's best-known authors". IrishExaminer.com.
  5. ^ a b Clark, Alex (26 February 2021). "Megan Nolan: 'When I think back, the way I drank was crazy. Everyone I knew did it'". TheGuardian.com.
  6. ^ McGrath, Maedhbh (8 July 2023). "Megan Nolan: 'In England, you're supposed to hate someone who has a tiny bit more than you'". Independent.ie.
  7. ^ Nolan, Megan (18 October 2018). "I Didn't Hate the English — Until Now". nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  8. ^ "The Betty Trask Prize | Past Winners", The Society of Authors. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  9. ^ Creamer, Ella (25 January 2024). "Gordon Burn prize announces 'blazing' shortlist". The Guardian.
  10. ^ Lane, Harriet (4 February 2024). "A Dead Child, Too Much Booze and a Family in Crisis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  11. ^ Spanoudi, Melina (30 May 2024). "Novels by Isabella Hammad and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ vying for the 10k Encore Award". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  12. ^ team, Code8. "Past Years". Young Writer of the Year Award. Retrieved 8 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Irish writers short-listed for the 2022 Society of Authors Awards". Books Ireland Magazine. 11 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Here is the longlist for the 2022 Dylan Thomas Prize". Literary Hub. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  15. ^ Creamer, Ella (25 January 2024). "Gordon Burn prize announces 'blazing' shortlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  16. ^ Creamer, Ella (21 November 2023). "Paul Murray and Fern Brady shortlisted for inaugural Nero awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
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