'Striking' debut novel from Waterford author in the running for Dublin Literary Award

A "striking" debut novel from a Waterford author is in the running for this year's Dublin Literary Award. 

The comment was made by Waterford librarians following their nomination of Megan Nolan's 'Acts of Desperation'. 

They said, "This striking debut novel from young Irish author Megan Nolan is impressive not just for its raw and unshrinking look at the cruelties and degradation of a destructive love affair but also for the confident and mature adroitness of the author.

"This novel was praised and discussed in our libraries during 2021 – an exciting and original new voice for Irish fiction." 

The book was also nominated by Chicago Public Library in the United States, who called it an "outstanding" novel of psychological fiction. 

The story follows a twenty three year old who has an affair with an older, beautiful man who isn't as perfect as he first seems. 

In a tweet posted yesterday (Monday March 7), Waterford Libraries stated, "We were proud to nominate Megan Nolan's stunning debut novel 'Acts of Desperation' as our choice for the Dublin Literary Award 2022. Looking forward to the shortlisting announcement on March 22nd." 

Born in Waterford, Nolan currently lives in London and has had essays, fiction and reviews published in The New York Times, The White Review and the literary anthology, Winter Papers.