Rachel Connolly

Connolly was born in Belfast and is from a Catholic background.^[1] Connolly attended Methodist College Belfast.^[2] She graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in maths and physics.^[3]

After graduating from university, Connolly had her first full-time job working for an insurance company as a risk analyst. She took leave to pursue two newspaper internships, including at The Independent. In 2018, Connolly earned a Google Fellowship to join the RTÉ investigations department. During this time, she also started freelancing.^[4] As a critic and essayist, Connolly has contributed to publications including The Guardian, the London Review of Books, the Financial Times, The New Republic, The Cut and The New York Times.^[5]

In 2022, Canongate Books acquired the rights to publish Connolly's debut novel Lazy City in 2023.^[6] The contemporary novel follows a character who moves back to Belfast from London after the death of a friend.^[7][8][9] Lazy City won a Betty Trask Award^[10] and was selected as an RTÉ Book of the Week by Aimée Walsh.^[11] Connolly was named a summer 2023 emerging author by Dazed.^[12]

Connolly lives in London.^[13][14]

• Lazy City (2023)