Liz Nugent (born 1967 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

) is an Irish novelist. She is the author of five crime novels. Her latest novel is ''Strange Sally Diamond'', published in the Ireland and UK in March 2023.

Biography

Liz Nugent attended

Holy Child Killiney Holy Child Killiney is a voluntary fee-paying Catholic secondary school under the direction of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in Killiney, a suburban village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. The school was opened in September 1947, ...

, in County Dublin. At the age of six she suffered a brain injury which left her with

dystonia Dystonia is a neurological hyperkinetic movement disorder in which sustained or repetitive muscle contractions result in twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal fixed postures. The movements may resemble a tremor. Dystonia is often inten ...

. After leaving school she moved to London for a time. After her return to Ireland she enrolled in an acting course at the Gaiety School of Acting, but soon switched to stage management. She toured the world with

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

as a stage manager and later worked in an administrative role in

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

on its flagship soap

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

. During her time at RTÉ she was commissioned to write an animation series for Irish language TV station

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

and also wrote a full-length radio play for RTE Radio. She subsequently won a European Broadcasting Union competition for a TV pilot. Her first novel began life as a short story called ''Alice'' which made the shortlist of the RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story Competition in 2006. Further exploration into the main character produced her first best-selling novel ''Unravelling Oliver''. She is published by

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

Sandycove in Ireland and the UK, and by Scout Press (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

) in the US.

Bibliography

* ''Unravelling Oliver'' (2014) * ''Lying In Wait'' (2016) * ''Skin Deep'' (2018) * ''Our Little Cruelties'' (2020) (as ''Little Cruelties'' in United States) * ''Strange Sally Diamond'' (2023)

Recognition

''Unravelling Oliver'' * Winner: Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award at the Bord Gáis

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

in 2014 * Longlist: Dublin International Literary Award (formerly the IMPAC) 2016 ''Lying In Wait'' * Winner: Ryan Tubridy Listeners' Choice Award - Irish Book Awards 2016 * Longlist: Dublin International Literary Award 2018 ''Skin Deep'' * Winner of two An Post Irish Book Awards 2018: Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year and RTÉ Radio 1's The Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award * Longlist: Dublin International Literary Award 2020 * "Cancel All Plans for the Book You Can't Put Down Award" - Dead Good Books at the Harrogate Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in 2019 ''Our Little Cruelties'' * Listed by the New York Times as one of 7 recommended thrillers of 2020 ''Strange Sally Diamond'' * Featured on BBC's Between the Covers sixth season

Other awards and bursaries

In 2016, Nugent was awarded the Ireland Funds Monaco Bursary to be the Writer-in-Residence at The

Princess Grace Irish Library The Princess Grace Irish Library is a library situated in Monaco named after Princess Grace, the wife and consort of Prince Rainier III. Among its collections of Irish literature, the library hosts the personal collection of Irish books and music ...

in Monaco and was also Writer-In-Residence in the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris in April 2019. She was awarded the Woman of the Year Award for Literature 2017. In February 2021, she was awarded the

James Joyce Award The James Joyce Award, also known as the Honorary Fellowship of the Society, is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) of University College Dublin (UCD) for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field; r ...

by the Literary & Historical Society of University College Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent, Liz 1967 births Living people Irish women novelists Thriller writers People from County Dublin People educated at Holy Child Killiney 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish women writers People with dystonia