Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published three novels: '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017), '' Normal People'' (2018), and '' Beautiful World, Where Are You'' (2021). ''Normal People'' was adapted into a 2020 television series by Hulu, RTÉ, Screen Ireland and the BBC. Rooney's work has garnered critical acclaim and commercial success, and she is regarded as one of the foremost millennial writers.

Early life and education

Rooney was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, in 1991, where she also grew up and lives today, after studying in Dublin and a stint in New York City. Her father, Kieran Rooney, worked for Telecom Éireann and her mother, Marie Farrell, ran an arts centre. Rooney has an older brother and a younger sister. She studied English at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where she was elected a scholar in 2011. She started (but did not complete) a master's degree in politics there, completing a degree in American literature instead, and graduated with an MA in 2013. Rooney has described herself as a Marxist.

While attending Trinity College Dublin, Rooney was a university debater and eventually became the top debater at the European Universities Debating Championships in 2013, later writing of the experience. Before becoming a writer, she worked for a restaurant in an administrative role.

Career

Early career

Rooney completed her first novel—which she has described as "absolute trash"—at the age of 15. Her first published work was two poems in '' The Stinging Fly'', submitted to the magazine when she was still in secondary school. She began writing "constantly" in late 2014. She completed her debut novel, '' Conversations with Friends'', while studying for her master's degree in American literature. She wrote 100,000 words of the book in three months.

In 2015, her essay "Even If You Beat Me", about her time as the "top competitive debater on the continent of Europe", was seen by an agent, Tracy Bohan, of the Wylie Agency, and Bohan contacted Rooney. Rooney gave Bohan a manuscript, and Bohan circulated it to publishers, receiving seven bids.

She had seen my story and wondered whether I had anything else she could read... But I didn’t send her anything for ages... I don’t know why. I didn't want her to see this shoddy draft.

''Conversations with Friends'' (2017)

Rooney signed with Tracy Bohan of the Wylie Agency, and ''Conversations with Friends'' was subject to a seven-party auction for its publishing rights, which were eventually sold in 12 countries. The novel was published in June 2017 by Faber and Faber. It was nominated for the 2018 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize, and the 2018 Folio Prize, and won the 2017 Sunday Times/Peters Fraser & Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award.

In March 2017, her short story "Mr Salary" was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award. In November 2017, Rooney was announced as editor of the Irish literary magazine '' The Stinging Fly''. She was a contributing writer to the magazine. She oversaw the magazine's two issues in 2018, before handing the editorship over to Danny Denton. She remains a contributing editor to the magazine.

In 2018, Rooney was announced as taking part in the Cúirt International Festival of Literature.

''Normal People'' (2018)

Rooney's second novel, ''Normal People'', was published in September 2018, also by Faber & Faber. The novel grew out of Rooney's exploration of the history between the two main characters of her short story "At the Clinic", which was first published in London-based literary magazine '' The White Review'' in 2016. In July 2018, ''Normal People'' was longlisted for that year's Man Booker Prize. On 27 November 2018, the work won "Irish Novel of the Year" at the Irish Book Awards and was named Waterstones' Book of the Year for 2018. In January 2019, it won the Costa Book Award (formerly the Whitbread) for the Novel category. It was longlisted for the 2019 Dylan Thomas Prize and the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. It has been translated into 46 languages and earned praise from Barack Obama and Taylor Swift, among others.

Television adaptations

The novel was made into a 12-part series as a co-production of BBC Three and the online platform Hulu, with filming taking place in Dublin and County Sligo. The series was directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal played Marianne and Connell, respectively. The series was a critical success and earned four Primetime Emmy Award nominations including for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series.

In February 2020, it was announced that the novel ''Conversations with Friends'' would also be made into a 12-episode BBC Three/Hulu miniseries. It was also announced that the creative team behind '' Normal People'', director Lenny Abrahamson and co-writer Alice Birch would be working on this adaptation, too.

''Beautiful World, Where Are You'' (2021)

In April 2019, the New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers announced its 2019 class of fellows, which included Rooney. The press release stated, "she will be writing a new novel under the working title ''Beautiful World, Where Are You,'' examining aesthetics and political crisis." The novel was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the United States and by Faber in the UK and Ireland in September 2021.

Popularity around the world

Rooney declined an offer from an Israeli publisher to translate ''Beautiful World, Where Are You'' into Hebrew, citing her support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In October 2021, Rooney said, "The Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement's institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so". In retaliation, two Israeli bookshop chains announced a withdrawal of all of Rooney's titles from their shelves in early November. Rooney's Israeli publisher said it would continue selling her titles. Subsequently, in a letter organized by Artists for Palestine UK, 70 writers and publishers, including Kevin Barry, Rachel Kushner, Geoff Dyer, Pankaj Mishra, Carmen Callil, and Ahdaf Soueif, said they supported Rooney’s decision.

Rooney is one of the most popular foreign writers in China.

Television

Bibliography

Novels

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Short fiction

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* Prototype of Marianne and Connell in later 2018 Normal People.
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:(First published in ''Granta 135: New Irish Writing Fiction'' 19 April 2016.)
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:(Also published in )

''Unread Messages''
''The New Yorker''. 12 July 2021.

Poetry

"Tírghrá"
The Stinging Fly. Spring 2010.
"Impossibilities"
''The Stinging Fly''. Spring 2010.
"The Stillest Horse"
''The Stinging Fly''. Winter 2012.
"After a Road Traffic Accident, Chennai"
. ''The Stinging Fly''. Summer 2014.
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Essays

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Audiobooks

* This audiobook contains unabridged readings of the stories and previously published in ''Granta'' and ''The New Yorker'' respectively.

Book reviews

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Reception

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:"Sally Rooney’s 2017 “Conversations With Friends,” widely heralded as the first great novel of millennial life"
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Awards

*2017 ''The Sunday Times'' Young Writer of the Year
*2018 Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year – ''Normal People''
*2018 Costa Book Awards – ''Normal People''
*2019 Encore Award – ''Normal People''
*2022 Dalkey Literary Awards – ''Beautiful World, Where Are You''

Personal life

Rooney lives in her childhood hometown of Castlebar and is married to John Prasifka, a mathematics teacher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Sally
Living people
1991 births
21st-century Irish novelists
21st-century Irish women writers
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Irish women novelists
Irish communists
Irish socialists
Irish Marxists
Irish Marxist writers
People from Castlebar
People associated with Trinity College Dublin
Scholars of Trinity College Dublin