Sally Rooney

Irish author (born 1991) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author. She is the author of the novels Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and Intermezzo (2024). The first two works were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022). Her bestselling novels have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide,[1] have been translated into over 47 languages, and have garnered critical acclaim and commercial success. Literary commentators regard Rooney as one of the foremost millennial writers,[2][3][4] and in 2022, Time named her among the 100 most influential people in the world.[5]

Born (1991-02-20) 20 February 1991 (age 35)
Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
Occupation
  • Author
  • screenwriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIrish
Quick facts Born, Occupation ...
Sally Rooney
Rooney in 2024
Rooney in 2024
Born (1991-02-20) 20 February 1991 (age 35)
Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
Occupation
  • Author
  • screenwriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIrish
EducationTrinity College Dublin (B.A., 2013; M.Phil)
PeriodModern
GenreLiterary fiction, psychological fiction
Years active2017–present
Notable worksConversations with Friends (2017)
Normal People (2018)
Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021)
Intermezzo (2024)
Notable awardsCosta Book Awards (2018)
Irish Book Awards (2018) Encore Award (2019)
SpouseJohn Prasifka (m. 2020)
Signature
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Rooney is generally considered a leading literary voice representing the concerns of contemporary Irish youth. Her books, which are mostly targeted at younger readers (particularly in the coming of age category), are highly popular outside Ireland. Her novels have become bestsellers in China and the United States. Rooney has also written several works of short fiction and poetry. For her contributions to literature, she received the Costa Book Award and the Irish Book Award in 2018, and the Encore Award in 2019.

As of 2024, Rooney lives and works in Castlebar with her spouse. She has called herself both a feminist and a Marxist, and much of her work addresses related topics. She is also active in both political and social circles, regularly expressing her views on global topics, movements and discussions.

Early life and education

Rooney was born in Castlebar, County Mayo,[6] in 1991, where she also grew up[7] and lives today, after studying in Dublin and a stint in New York City.[8] Her father, Kieran Rooney, worked for Telecom Éireann and her mother, Marie Farrell, ran an arts centre.[7][9][10] Rooney has an older brother and a younger sister.[7] She studied English at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where she was elected a scholar in 2011 and graduated with a BA in 2013.[11] She started but did not complete a master's degree in politics there, graduating with an MPhil in the literature of the Americas instead.[12][13]

While attending Trinity College Dublin, Rooney was a university debater and in 2013 became the top debater at the European Universities Debating Championships.[14][15] She has written about the experience.[16] Before becoming a writer, she worked for a restaurant in an administrative role.[17][18]

Career

Early career

Rooney completed her first novel—which she has called "absolute trash"—at age 15.[19] Her first published works were two poems in The Stinging Fly, submitted to the magazine when she was in secondary school.[20] 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.[19]

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. Bohan contacted Rooney, but Rooney was hesitant to send her any new material at first.[10]

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.[17]

Rooney eventually sent Bohan a manuscript, and Bohan circulated it to publishers, receiving seven bids.[21][22]

Conversations with Friends (2017)

Main article: Conversations with Friends

Rooney signed with Bohan and 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.[23][17] The novel was published in June 2017 by Faber & Faber. It was nominated for the 2018 Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize,[24] and the 2018 Folio Prize, and won the 2017 Sunday Times/Peters Fraser & Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award.[25][26]

In March 2017, her short story "Mr Salary" was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.[27] In November 2017, Rooney was announced as editor of the Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly.[28] She was a contributing writer to the magazine.[29] 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.[30]

In 2018, Rooney was announced as taking part in the Cúirt International Festival of Literature.[31]

Normal People (2018)

Main article: Normal People

Rooney's second novel, Normal People, was published in September 2018, also by Faber & Faber.[32][33] 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.[34][35] In July 2018, Normal People was longlisted for that year's Man Booker Prize.[36] On 27 November 2018, the work won "Irish Novel of the Year" at the Irish Book Awards[37] and was named Waterstones' Book of the Year for 2018.[38] In January 2019, it won the Costa Book Award (formerly the Whitbread) for the Novel category.[39][40] It was longlisted for the 2019 Dylan Thomas Prize[41] and the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction.[42] It has been translated into 46 languages and earned praise from Barack Obama and Taylor Swift, among others.[8]

Television adaptations

Normal People 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.[43] 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.[44]

In May 2022, the novel Conversations with Friends was also made into a 12-episode BBC Three/Hulu miniseries,[45][46] with the same creative team behind Normal People. Director Lenny Abrahamson and co-writer Alice Birch worked on this adaptation, too.[47][48]

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 read, "she will be writing a new novel under the working title Beautiful World, Where Are You, examining aesthetics and political crisis."[49] The novel was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the United States and by Faber in the UK and Ireland in September 2021.[50][51][52] She did not accept any options for a film adaptation.[53]

Intermezzo (2024)

Main article: Intermezzo (novel)

Rooney's fourth novel, Intermezzo, was released in September 2024. The novel focuses on the complicated relationship between two brothers dealing with grief after their father's death. Central themes include an exploration of complicated family dynamics and the expectations of romantic relationships.[54][55][56][57][58]

Intermezzo won the 2025 Sky Arts Award for literature. Rooney did not accept the award in person, saying she had been advised against entering the United Kingdom because her support for Palestine Action put her at risk of arrest.[59][60]

Political views

Rooney describes herself as a feminist and a Marxist;[61][62][8] both her parents are socialists and instilled socialist values in Rooney.[63][64] Rooney has said that her work has a Marxist character, and noted that her characters tend to live in economically precarious conditions despite often being college-educated.[65] In response to claims that her work does not accurately depict working-class experiences, Rooney has said that she understands the working class as made up not just of "particular communities or workers in particular industries" but rather of all people who work for a living instead of having a capital-based income; nevertheless, she admits that higher-earning workers cannot be easily equated to lower-earning ones.[66]

The feminist themes in Rooney's works have made them popular in China, where they have been best sellers.[67][68]

During the 2018 referendum on the legality of abortion in Ireland, Rooney campaigned for a Yes vote.[10][69]

Support for Palestine

Rooney's first two books were translated into Hebrew by the Israeli publisher Modan. Modan's request to translate Beautiful World, Where Are You was denied, as Rooney felt it did not comply with the demands of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.[70][71] In a statement sent to The Independent, she wrote, "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".[72][73] In retaliation, two Israeli bookshop chains announced a withdrawal of all of Rooney's titles from their shelves.[74] Modan said it would continue selling the two books it had the rights to.[75] 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.[76] In October 2024, Rooney signed an open letter pledging not to work with Israeli cultural institutions.[77]

In June 2025, Rooney praised Palestine Action after its members broke into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed the engines of two Airbus A330 MRTT tankers with red paint. Rooney criticised the British government's intention to define the group as a terrorist organisation. She contrasted what she saw as Palestine Action's nonviolent tactics with the intelligence and equipment support the British government gave Israel. She accused the government of "state support for genocide" and said, "those brave enough to break the law in protest [...] deserve our highest respect."[78] She supported a Palestine Action co-founder's attempt in the High Court to block the government's ban before it came into effect on 5 July. In a written submission to the court, Rooney called herself a "committed supporter" of the group and said she would continue to use proceeds from her work to financially support it.[79] She said the ban would prevent her from speaking at future public events in the United Kingdom.[80] Ultimately, the British government banned Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act.[81]

In her submission to the High Court to contest this status in November 2025, Rooney wrote that Element Pictures, the production company behind her BBC adaptations, had cautioned her that it would be illegal for it to make royalty payments to her if she used or was suspected of using the money to support the group. After receiving this caution, she wondered whether Faber & Faber or the BBC would pay her royalties while Palestine Action remained banned. She was "almost certain" that any new work of hers could not be published in Britain and that existing works would be withdrawn from the British market, a situation she called "a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression".[82][83] Rooney also said that she had previously supported the use of direct action, "including property sabotage", in relation to environmental causes and that it "stands to reason" that she would support similar actions in relation to the oppression of the Palestinian people.[82]

In May 2026, it was announced that Intermezzo would be published in Hebrew translation by November Books, +972 Magazine, and Local Call, all deemed compliant with BDS. In an interview, Rooney said she had refused to allow Modan to translate Beautiful World, Where Are You after being told that it also published books for the Israeli Defense Ministry.[84]

Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2020Normal PeopleWriter / executive producer12 episodes: Hulu & BBC Three
2022Conversations with FriendsExecutive producer12 episodes: Hulu & BBC Three
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Published works


Novels

  • Conversations with Friends. London: Faber & Faber. 2017. ISBN 9780571333127.
  • Normal People. London: Faber & Faber. 2018. ISBN 9780571334643.
  • Beautiful World, Where Are You. London: Faber & Faber. 2021. ISBN 9780571365425.
  • Intermezzo. London: Faber & Faber. 2024. ISBN 9780571365463.

Short fiction

(First published in Granta 135: New Irish Writing Fiction on 19 April 2016.)[95][96]
(Also published in Being Various: New Irish Short Stories. London: Faber & Faber. 2019. ISBN 9780571342501.)[98]

Poetry

Essays

Audiobooks

This audiobook contains unabridged readings of the stories "Mr Salary" and "Color and Light", previously published in Granta and The New Yorker, respectively.

Book reviews

Reception

Awards

Personal life

Rooney lives in her childhood hometown of Castlebar and is married to John Prasifka, a mathematics teacher.[8][119]

Notes

  1. [1]
    Online version is titled "Sally Rooney gets in your head".

References

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