Louise Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 Kennedy in 2023 | |
| Born | 1967 (age 57–58) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Notable works | Trespasses The End of the World is a Cul de Sac |
Louise Kennedy (born 1967) is an Irish writer.
Louise Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Kennedy in 2023 | |
| Born | 1967 (age 57–58) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Notable works | Trespasses The End of the World is a Cul de Sac |
Louise Kennedy (born 1967) is an Irish writer.
Kennedy was born in 1967; [1] she grew up in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. [2] and, from the age of 12, in Dublin and Kildare. [3] She worked as a chef for 30 years before joining a creative writing group at a friend's insistence. [4] She has an MA and a PhD in creative writing from Queen's University Belfast. [3]
Kennedy's early short stories appeared in publications including The Stinging Fly , The Tangerine, Banshee, Wasafiri and Ambit . [3] She was shortlisted for the 2019 and 2020 Sunday Times Short Story Awards, for "In Silhouette" and "Sparing the Heather" respectively. [5] [6]
Kennedy's first novel, Trespasses (2022), was shortlisted for the 2022 (inaugural) Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize [7] and the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. [8] Kennedy has described the novel as "a star-crossed love story set in a small town near Belfast in 1975, at the height of the time known as The Troubles". [2]
She published a book of short stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, in 2023. Kirkus Reviews described the stories as "set in a contemporary Ireland divided by wealth and education". [9] The Guardian 's reviewer called it a "dazzling, heartbreaking debut collection", [10] and the New York Journal of Books wrote of "deep-probing, slice-of-life stories seamlessly woven in stark vignettes without a filter". [11]
She has also written for The Guardian , The Irish Times , and BBC Radio 4. [12]
| Year | Book | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Trespasses | Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award | — | Nominated | |
| Irish Book Award | Novel of the Year | Won | |||
| Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| 2023 | British Book Award | Overall Book of the Year | Shortlisted | ||
| Début Book of the Year | Won | ||||
| Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award | — | Shortlisted | |||
| McKitterick Prize | — | Won | |||
| Women's Prize for Fiction | — | Shortlisted |
Born in 1967, Louise Kennedy ...
in 2014 when I was 47
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
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