Sally Rooney is an Irish novelist, born in Castlebar, County Mayo, on 20 February 1991. She is the author of four novels: “Conversations with Friends” (2017), “Normal People” (2018), “Beautiful World, Where Are You” (2021) and “Intermezzo” (2024). The first two were adapted for television by BBC Three and Hulu.
Rooney studied English at Trinity College Dublin, where she was elected a scholar in 2011 and graduated in 2013, and later took a master’s degree in American literature there. She was a university debater and in 2013 became the top debater at the European Universities Debating Championships. Her first published works were two poems in the magazine The Stinging Fly, submitted while she was still at secondary school. A 2015 essay about her debating years, “Even If You Beat Me”, was seen by Tracy Bohan of the Wylie Agency, who became her agent.
“Conversations with Friends”, which Rooney finished while studying for her master’s, went to a seven-party auction and was published by Faber & Faber in June 2017. It won her the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. “Normal People” followed in September 2018. It grew out of a 2016 short story, “At the Clinic”, which featured early versions of its two main characters, Marianne and Connell. The novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, was named Irish Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and won the Costa Book Award in the novel category.
The 12-part television version of “Normal People” (2020) was directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald, with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in the lead roles, and earned four Primetime Emmy nominations. A 12-episode adaptation of “Conversations with Friends” followed in May 2022.
“Beautiful World, Where Are You” was published in September 2021. Her fourth novel, “Intermezzo”, came out in September 2024 and follows two brothers dealing with grief after their father’s death; it won the 2025 Sky Arts Award for literature. Rooney has also published short fiction, including “Mr Salary”, which first appeared in Granta in 2016, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award and was issued as a small book by Faber in 2019. She lives in Castlebar.
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Conversations with Friends | 2017 |
| Normal People | 2018 |
| Beautiful World, Where Are You | 2021 |
| Intermezzo | 2024 |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| Mr Salary | 2016 |