Naoise Dolan

Dolan was born in Dublin, Ireland.[2] She experienced homophobic bullying in school.[3] A college debater, she co-convened the Irish Mace competition in 2015/16.[4]She identifies as queer.[5]

Dolan obtained an English degree from Trinity College Dublin in 2016[6][2] and later a Master's in Victorian literature from Oxford University.[7][2] Her desire to become a writer began while she was at Trinity College.[1] 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.[8]

In 2016, after finishing university and being unable to find work in Ireland, she moved to Singapore to work as a TEFL teacher.[9] Later that year, she moved to Hong Kong.[10][9] She has also lived in Italy.[1] Since 2018, she has lived in London intermittently.[2] Due to the climate crisis, she no longer travels by plane.[11]

At age 27, Dolan was diagnosed with autism.[12] She has been open about her diagnosis in interviews and on social media.[2]

Dolan began writing Exciting Times in 2017, when she was living in Hong Kong.[2] She completed writing the novel in five months.[2] The novel received critical acclaim, and was often likened to the work of Sally Rooney, a fellow Trinity College Dublin graduate.[13][14] 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.[15] The New York Times described it at as a novel where "jealousy and obsession, love and late capitalism, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege."[15]

Dolan was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award in 2020 and for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer) in 2021.[16][17] In May 2020 it was announced that Exciting Times had been optioned for a US television series by Black Bear Pictures,[2] and in August 2021 it was revealed that Phoebe Dynevor would star in the adaptation and act as executive producer. The series will be produced by Amazon Studios.[18]

In a March 2021 interview, Dolan stated that she was making edits on her second novel.[19]

• 2021 – Longlisted – Women's Prize for Fiction[20]
• 2021 – Longlisted – Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize[21]
• 2020 – Shortlisted – Waterstones Book of the Year[22]
• 2020 – Shortlisted – The Sunday Times / University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award[23]
• 2021 – Longlisted – Dylan Thomas Prize[24]

• Exciting Times (Orion Publishing Co, 2020, ISBN 9781474618908)