# Naoise Dolan

Naoise Dolan (Irish pronunciation:; born 14 April 1992) is an Irish novelist. She is known for her novels Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023).

## Early life and education

Dolan was born in Dublin, Ireland. She experienced homophobic bullying in school. A college debater, she co-convened the Irish Mace competition in 2015/16. She identifies as queer.
Dolan obtained an English degree from Trinity College Dublin in 2016 and later a Master's in Victorian literature from Oxford University. 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 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, 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 Exciting Times in 2017, when she was living in Hong Kong. She completed writing the novel in five months. The novel received critical acclaim, and was often likened to the work of Sally Rooney, a fellow Trinity College Dublin 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 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."
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, 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.

### 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 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 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

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2020 | Exciting Times | Blackwell's Book of the Year | Debut Novel | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | Exciting Times | Irish Book Awards | Newcomer | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | Exciting Times | The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award | — | Shortlisted |
| 2020 | Exciting Times | Waterstones Book of the Year | — | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | Exciting Times | British Book Awards | Début Book of the Year | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | Exciting Times | Dalkey Literary Award | Emerging Author | Shortlisted |
| 2021 | Exciting Times | Desmond Elliott Prize | — | Longlisted |
| 2021 | Exciting Times | Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Longlisted |
| 2021 | Exciting Times | Women's Prize for Fiction | — | Longlisted |
| 2024 | The Happy Couple | Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award | — | Shortlisted |

## Published works

* —— (2020). Exciting Times. Orion Publishing. ISBN 9781474618908.
* —— (2023). The Happy Couple. HarperCollins. ISBN 9781474613521.