Naoise Dolan (; born 14 April 1992) is an Irish novelist. She is known for her novels ''

Exciting Times ''Exciting Times'' is a novel by Irish author Naoise Dolan. It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 April 2020 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and later that summer in the United States. The book is Dolan's debut novel, an intimate exploration o ...

'' (2020) and '' The Happy Couple'' (2023).

Early life and education

Dolan was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. She experienced

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

bullying in school. A college debater, she co-convened the Irish Mace competition in 2015/16. She identifies as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

. Dolan obtained an English degree from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in 2016 and later a Master's in

Victorian literature Victorian era, Victorian literature is English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). In the Victorian era, the novel became the leading literary genre in English. English writing from this era reflects the major transform ...

from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Her desire to become a writer began while she was at Trinity College. It was during her time as a student that she first came to popularity, as the writer and illustrator of humorous feminist cartoons published to her blog. In 2016, after finishing university and being unable to find work in Ireland, she moved to Singapore to work as a

TEFL Teaching English as a second (TESL) or foreign language (TEFL) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English. The terms TEFL, TESL, and TESO ...

teacher. Later that year, she moved to Hong Kong. She has also lived in Italy. Since 2018, she has lived in London intermittently. Due to the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

, she no longer travels by plane. At age 27, Dolan was diagnosed with autism. She has been open about her diagnosis in interviews and on social media.

Career

''Exciting Times'' (2020)

Dolan began writing ''

'' in 2017, when she was living in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. She completed writing the novel in five months. The novel received critical acclaim, and was often likened to the work of

Sally Rooney Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published four novels: ''Conversations with Friends'' (2017), ''Normal People'' (2018), ''Beautiful World, Where Are You'' (2021), and ''Intermezzo (novel), Interm ...

, a fellow

graduate. The novel follows a 22-year-old Dubliner, Ava, while she is teaching English in Hong Kong, and her relationships with Julian, an Oxford-educated banker, and Edith, a corporate lawyer from a wealthy Hong-Kong family. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described it at as a novel where "jealousy and obsession, love and

late capitalism The concept of late capitalism (in German: ''Spätkapitalismus''), also known as late-stage capitalism, was first used by the German social scientist Werner Sombart (1863–1941) in 1928, to describe the new capitalist order emerging at that tim ...

, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege." Dolan was shortlisted for The ''Sunday Times'' Young Writer of the Year award in 2020 and for the Dalkey — Award (Emerging Writer) in 2021. In May 2020 it was announced that ''Exciting Times'' had been optioned for a US television series by

Black Bear Pictures Black Bear Pictures is an American media company that develops, produces and finances original content for film and television. Black Bear is based in Santa Monica, California. Since its 2011 launch, Black Bear's slate has grossed over $300,000,0 ...

, and in August 2021 it was revealed that

Phoebe Dynevor Phoebe Harriet Dynevor (; born 17 April 1995) is an English actress. She is known for starring in the films '' The Colour Room'' (2021), '' Fair Play'' (2023), and ''Inheritance'' (2025) as well as the first two series of the period drama ''Br ...

would star in the adaptation and act as executive producer. The series will be produced by

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

''The Happy Couple'' (2023)

In a March 2021 interview, Dolan stated that she was making edits on her second novel. Her sophomore novel '' The Happy Couple'' was released in the United Kingdom on 25 May 2023. The novel revolves around a couple dealing with their flawed relationship days before their wedding told from different perspectives. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave it a mostly positive review describing it as "funny and direct" while musing, "Dolan more often uses her wit simply to parcel out insights and provocations among her cast rather than using them to build personalities we really care about." In a positive review ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' lauded Dolan's skill as a writer noting, "This book confirms her as an artful comic novelist with a distinctive signature style." The novel is "study not of love or romance but of the motivating force of self-delusion."

Awards and recognition

Published works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Naoise 1992 births 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish women writers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of the University of Oxford Expatriates in Singapore Irish expatriates in England Irish expatriates in Hong Kong Irish expatriates in Italy Irish queer people Irish LGBTQ novelists Irish women novelists Living people Autistic writers Irish people with disabilities LGBTQ writers with disabilities Queer women Queer novelists Writers from Dublin (city) Autistic LGBTQ people Writers with disabilities