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Caitriona Lally

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Caitriona Lally
NationalityIrish
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
GenreFiction
Notable worksEggshells

Caitriona Lally is an Irish writer. She has published two novels: Eggshells (2017) and Wunderland (2021).[1] In 2018 she was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.[2]

Life

Lally studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin.[3] After graduating in 2004, she taught English in Japan and spent time travelling abroad. She then worked as a copywriter, and as a home aide in New York. Lally wrote her first novel Eggshells while working a job in data entry.[4] She works as a janitor at Trinity College Dublin[5] and lives in Dublin with her family.[6]

Books

Lally's first novel Eggshells tells the story of Vivian, an enchanting outsider who believes herself to be a changeling[7] and roams the streets of Dublin in search of belonging. The book explores ideas of home and the meaning of society. Lally worked on Eggshells while working a job in data entry. She entered the manuscript into a competition and won the chance to pitch it to agents and publishers, an opportunity that secured her an agent and a book deal. The novel was published in 2015.[4]

Eggshells was shortlisted for the Newcomer Award at the 2015 Irish Book Awards and the Kate O’Brien Debut Novel Award. In 2015, Lally received a Literature Bursary from the Arts Council, which enabled her to start research for her second novel.[8]

Wunderland was published in September 2021. It follows Roy, exiled from Ireland to Hamburg, where he works as a cleaner at an exhibition of miniatures. On writing the novel, Lally said, "Writing Wunderland was a chance for me to indulge my obsessions with trains and all things miniature, and to explore two characters coming at life from very different perspectives."[1]

Bibliography

  • Eggshells. Melville House, 2017. ISBN 9781612195971 [9][10]
  • Wunderland, New Island Books, 2021.

She performed a spoken word piece in the 2016 Dublin Port project Starboard Home.[11]

Awards

Personal life

Lally and her husband, who works for the Irish government, live in Dublin.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Wunderland: A Novel". NEW ISLAND BOOKS. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  2. ^ MacLellan, Lila. "A prestigious university just awarded a literary prize to one of its janitors". Quartz at Work. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  3. ^ "Caitriona Lally wins major literary prize in Trinity (where she works as a cleaner)". Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  4. ^ a b News, The Lily. "This writer is also a janitor. She just won a prestigious literary award from the university she cleans". https://www.thelily.com. Retrieved 2022-03-11. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |website= (help)
  5. ^ Jones, Fionnuala. "The way the media speaks about author Catriona Lally's day job is telling of how it views the service industry". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  6. ^ a b Klein, Allison. "This author also works as a janitor. She just won a prestigious literary prize from the university she cleans". Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  7. ^ "Eggshells by Caitriona Lally review – a daring debut". the Guardian. 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  8. ^ "Caitriona Lally". www.artscouncil.ie. 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2022-03-11. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  9. ^ Miller, E. Ce. "This Writer Works As A Janitor At The University That Just Awarded Her A Literary Prize". Bustle. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  10. ^ Kilroy, Claire (2015-09-12). "Eggshells by Caitriona Lally review – a daring debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  11. ^ "Writer's Block with Caitriona Lally". The Gloss Magazine. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  12. ^ "An Post Irish Book Awards » Caitriona Lally". Retrieved 2020-04-06.