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.

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

Biography

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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

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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

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  • —— (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

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  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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