Dolly Alderton (born 31 August 1988) is a British author and screenwriter. She is also columnist for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. Her memoir '' Everything I Know About Love'' won a 2018

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

for

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

and was shortlisted for the 2019 Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year in the

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

, and adapted into a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

eponymous television drama series.

Early life

Alderton was born in London and raised in

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

. She was born to British and Canadian parents, and describes herself as "half Canadian". Born Hannah Alderton, she changed her name to Dolly in her early teens. She was educated at St Margaret's School in

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...

, and

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, where she boarded in the sixth form. She earned a degree in Drama and English from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, and a master's degree in journalism from City University.

Career

Alderton is an author, journalist and podcast host.

Journalism

Alderton began writing for ''

'' in 2015, working initially as a dating columnist from 2015 to 2017. In 2020, she began working as an agony aunt for ''The Sunday Times'' in her column ''Dear Dolly.''

Books

Alderton's debut book, '' Everything I Know About Love'', was published in February 2018.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

described it as "offering readers a frank and deeply personal account of friendships, relationships and growing up as a

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

". The memoir was shortlisted for the

National Book Awards The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in 2018 in the Autobiography category (won that year by

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

for '' Becoming''). It was shortlisted for the 2018

Waterstones Book of the Year The Waterstones Book of the Year, established in 2012, is an annual award presented to a book published in the previous 12 months. Waterstones' booksellers nominate and vote to determine the winners and finalists for the prize. Award winners re ...

. In October 2020, Alderton was working on a TV adaptation of ''Everything I Know About Love''. It was produced by Working Title Television and

Universal International Studios Universal International Studios (formerly known as NBCUniversal International Television Production and NBCUniversal International Studios) is a British international television production company that is a division of American television product ...

for

, with a screenplay by Alderton, directed by China Moo-Young. Her first novel, ''Ghosts,'' was published in October 2020 by Fig Tree. The novel concerns a 32-year-old food writer, Nina, who meets someone through a dating app, while her father is beginning to show signs of

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

. In October 2020, it was reported that Alderton had sold the film rights to ''Ghosts.'' In October 2022, Alderton released a third book entitled ''Dear Dolly'', a collection of her ''Sunday Times'' columns and a new personal essay. Alderton's second novel, '' Good Material'', was released in November 2023. In 2024 Alderton was nominated for and shortlisted for the

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with '' Salmon Fishing in the Yemen ...

for her novel ''Good Material''.

Podcasts

Alderton co-created and co-hosted ''The High Low'' with Pandora Sykes''.'' ''The High Low'' was a weekly

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

focusing on pop culture and current affairs. The podcast ran for four years and over 150 episodes were recorded. The final episode aired on 2 December 2020. ''The High Low: A Christmas Special Live Stream'' took place on 8 December 2020 to raise funds for

Blood Cancer UK Blood Cancer UK, (formerly Bloodwise, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and the Leukaemia Research Fund) is a UK-based charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, as well as offering informati ...

. Alderton presented the podcast ''Love Stories'' in conjunction with her book ''Everything I Know About Love'', where she interviewed a number of guests including

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor. Known as a character actor, he has played a wide variety of roles ranging from menacing to sophisticated, earning numerous accolades, including six Emmy Awards and two Golden ...

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019, 2024), for which she won the B ...

and

Marian Keyes Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish author and radio presenter. She is principally known for her popular fiction. Keyes became known for her novels ''Watermelon'', '' Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married'', ''Rachel's Holiday'', ''Las ...

. Season one was released between February 2018 and May 2018, and season two between January 2019 and March 2019. In January 2019,

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

published a feature titled ''Six inspiring lessons I learnt from Love Stories'', where Alderton described the experience as a "great privilege". Alderton has been a guest on numerous podcasts, including '' Off Menu'' with

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Gamble (born 10 March 1986) is an English comedian and television presenter. He is best known for co-presenting the ''Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Off Menu'' podcast with James Acaster as well as his appearances ...

and

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor. As well as the stand-up specials ''James Acaster: Repertoire, Repertoire'' and ''Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999'', he is known for co-hosting ...

, ''How to Fail'' with Elizabeth Day, and ''Table Manners'' with

Jessie Ware Jessica Lois Ware (born 15 October 1984) is an English singer and songwriter. She came to prominence following the release of her debut studio album, '' Devotion'' (2012), which peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and produced the sing ...

. She was the very first guest on

Margaret Cabourn-Smith Margaret Alice Cabourn-Smith (born 1975) is an English comedy actress and podcaster with appearances on '' Catastrophe'', ''The IT Crowd'', '' Psychoville'', ''Peep Show'', ''Fresh Meat'', ''Motherland'', ''Daddy Issues'' and '' Cheaters''. H ...

's podcast ''Crushed by Margaret Cabourn-Smith''. From February to April 2021, Alderton co-hosted a spin-off series for the ''Sentimental Garbage'' podcast titled ''Sentimental in the City'' with Caroline O'Donoghue. In March 2021, the podcast received a five-star review in The Times.

Themes

Alderton's work explores themes of love, female friendship, and her experiences living as a millennial woman. Naomi Gordon described Alderton's memoir ''Everything I Know about Love'' as "self-deprecating, and occasionally heartbreaking musings on love, friendship, relationships, and growing up as millennial".

Film, TV and radio

From 2011, Alderton worked as a story producer for series 2-5 of the BAFTA-winning ''

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British Scripted reality, structured-reality television series broadcast by E4 (TV channel), E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West a ...

'', made by Monkey Kingdom. Alderton has written and directed two independent films with her writing partner Lauren Bensted. Alderton released ''The Confluence'', a documentary about

Tagg's Island Tagg's Island is an ait (island) on the River Thames on the reach above Molesey Lock and just above Ash Island, located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and part of Hampton. The island is roughly 400 metres long by 90 metres w ...

in 2014, and ''Anna Island'', a short film accepted to the

London Short Film Festival The London Short Film Festival, founded in 2004, is a film festival held annually at various locations in London, in January. The festival celebrates short film production. Each year the festival appoints an international jury who award prizes wo ...

, in 2015. Alderton worked as a script assistant on the final series of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' Fresh Meat'' and directed the behind-the-scenes online videos for the last series of ''Fresh Meat'' and the last series of Channel 4's ''

Peep Show A peep show, peepshow, or, a peep booth is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the devel ...

''. Alderton adapted her book ''Everything I Know About Love'' into a romantic comedy with Working Title TV. In May 2021, Alderton announced that the adaptation had been commissioned by the BBC and later by

in the US. The BBC synopsis describes the romantic comedy as a portrayal of two best friends, Maggie and Birdy, as they "finally land in London to live it large, when the unexpected happens – dependable Birdy gets a steady boyfriend". It has been described as a "generous, funny, warm-hearted and uplifting Sex & The City for millennials which covers bad dates and squalid flat-shares, heartaches and humiliations, and, most importantly, unbreakable female friendships". The drama premiered on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in June 2022 and stars Emma Appleton,

Bel Powley Isobel Dorothy Powley Booth (born 7 March 1992) is an English actress. Born and raised in London, Powley was educated at Holland Park School. She began acting as a teenager on television, starring on the CBBC action television series ''M.I. Hig ...

, Marli Siu and Aliyah Odoffin. All episodes are available to stream on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

. In the same month, it was announced that

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

picked the series as well for US streaming to add to its original programming catalogue lineup for the summer season, and it premiered on 25 August 2022. In 2020, she appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the re ...

'', nominating American actress

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

Recognition

She appeared in a ''

Forbes 30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

'' List in 2018. In 2019, she was a judge for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

. In 2022, she was awarded an honorary D.Litt degree by the

Personal life

Food is one of her principal interests; she has named spaghetti vongole as her preferred last meal, and is passionate about pickling and vinegar.

Books

Fiction

* *

Nonfiction

* (Reissued with a new chapter on "everything I know at thirty") *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderton, Dolly 1988 births Living people 21st-century British women journalists 21st-century English journalists 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English novelists Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of the University of Exeter British women columnists British women memoirists English columnists English people of Canadian descent English women novelists Journalists from London Made in Chelsea People educated at Rugby School People educated at St Margaret's School, Bushey People from Stanmore The Sunday Times people Writers from the London Borough of Harrow