Irish Author Sally Rooney Is The Youngest Costa Book Prize Winner

Irish novelist Sally Rooney already has one bestseller. And now, she has won the Costa Novel Award for her second novel, Normal People, a love story. With this, the 27-year-old has become the youngest recipient of this prestigious award. The award came four months after she was omitted from the Booker Prize shortlist.

'Normal People' is "a trailblazing novel about modern life and love that will electrify any reader", according to the Costa judges

"I have no idea if I’ll write another book," Rooney told Telegraph last year. “Maybe I am one of those people who writes two novels in their twenties, then never writes anything else again.”

Born in 1991, Rooney lives in Dublin. She has been tagged as "the first great millennial author" and "Salinger for the Snapchat generation". She is also the youngest winner of the Sunday Times PFD Young Writer of the Year Award

Editor of The Stinging Fly, Rooney has seen many accomplishments in her career and has received widespread critical acclaim. She made her mark with first novel, Conversations with Friends, which was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize. In 2017, she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.

Normal People, on the other hand, is a story of Marianne and Connell, in their 20s, who grew up in the same small town in rural Ireland before becoming students at Trinity College, Dublin.

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Dominic Paul, Costa’s managing director, said, “The Costa Book Awards are all about recognising and celebrating some of the hugely enjoyable books out there."

“This year’s stellar collection of award-winning books highlight the exceptional talent of authors writing in the UK and Ireland today. Many congratulations to each of this year’s Costa Award winners.”

The winner of the Book of the Year award will be announced on 29 January.

Feature Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk

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