Meet the Judges: Naoise Dolan
Meet the judges! We chatted with the incredible Naoise Dolan on all things books. A young Irish novelist, Naoise is the author of two novels Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023). She was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THE ONLINE READING COMMUNITY?
I’m not very active in it myself because I write better when I’ve got privacy. But when I was a kid, I felt lonely from having nobody to talk to about books, so I like that young people nowadays have an outlet.
WHAT BOOK FIRST SPARKED YOUR LOVE FOR READING?
I can’t remember ever not loving reading; nobody’s sure how, but I taught myself before I started school. Anyway, the first thing I distinctly recall reading is the back of cereal boxes, so let’s go with that.
WHAT DEBUT AUTHOR SHOULD WE BE KEEPING OUR EYES ON?
My friend Daisy Onubogu is still getting her first novel ready to submit to publishers, so it might be some time before readers can get their hands on it — but if you’re willing to play the long game, she is one to watch for sure.
WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL INSPIRED TO WRITE?
Adoring letters from my admirers and/or threatening ones from my landlord.
IF YOU COULD GO FOR DINNER WITH A CHARACTER, WHO WOULD YOU PICK AND WHY?
There are characters I enjoy on the page, and there are characters who would make for a salutary dinner companion; I have never encountered both at once.
DO YOU HAVE ANY READING RITUALS?
I read a few languages, so I like to cycle between the books in the same order each day. And I never read more than one book in the same language at the same time, or I would finish roughly around death.
ALL TIME FAVE READ
I answer this differently every time I asked, but I don’t think I’ve said Nabokov’s Pnin yet, so Pnin it is.
CURRENT READ
I won’t bore you with the full multilingual rotation! But in English, before I put it on pause to read the shortlist for this prize, I was reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. Everyone but me seems to have already read it — but on the off chance you haven’t, it’s quite good.
NEXT ON TBR
I don’t keep a TBR! I’ve found it makes me rush through the current book rather than savouring it properly.