Emma Donoghue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emma Donoghue
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Donoghue in Toronto on 18 February 2015
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| Born | October 1969 (age 55) Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer, playwright, literary historian |
| Nationality | Irish Canadian |
| Partner | Christine Roulston |
| Children | 2 |
Emma Donoghue (born October 1969) is a talented writer from Ireland and Canada. She writes novels, screenplays for movies, plays for the stage, and studies literature. Her book Room, published in 2010, was a huge success. It was nominated for the important Booker Prize and became a best-seller around the world.
Emma Donoghue has won several awards for her writing. Her 1995 novel Hood won the Stonewall Book Award. This award celebrates books that tell diverse stories. Her book Slammerkin (2000) also won an award for fiction. In 2011, she received the Alex Awards. Emma Donoghue even wrote the screenplay for the movie based on her novel Room, called Room (2015). For this, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which is a very big honor in movies. In 2025, she won the Alice B Readers Award for her consistently well-written stories.
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About Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue was born in Dublin, Ireland, in October 1969. She was the youngest of eight children. Her father, Denis Donoghue, was a well-known academic and literary critic.
Emma studied English and French at University College Dublin. She earned a first-class honors degree. Later, she got her PhD in English from Girton College, Cambridge. While studying at Cambridge, she lived in a women's co-operative. This experience later inspired one of her short stories. Her PhD research was about friendships between men and women in books from the 18th century.
While at Cambridge, she met Christine Roulston, who would become her wife. Christine is Canadian and is now a professor at the University of Western Ontario. Emma and Christine moved to Canada in 1998. Emma became a Canadian citizen in 2004. Today, she lives in London, Ontario, with Christine and their two children.
How Emma Donoghue Writes
Emma Donoghue has shared what inspires her writing. She mentions the works of Emily Dickinson and novels like The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. She also likes Red Shift by Alan Garner.
She says she tries to be "industrious and unpretentious" when she writes. This means she works hard and doesn't make a big fuss about it. She also notes that her writing life changed after she had children.
Emma Donoghue's Books
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Stir Fry and Hood
Emma Donoghue's first novel, Stir Fry, came out in 1994. It's a story about a young Irish woman growing up and understanding herself. This book was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.
In 1995, she published Hood. This book is also a modern story about an Irish woman dealing with the loss of her girlfriend. Hood won the 1997 Stonewall Book Award for Literature.
Slammerkin
Slammerkin was published in 2000. It's a historical novel set in London and Wales. The story was inspired by an old newspaper article from the 18th century. It was about a young servant who was executed. The main character in the book is a young woman who dreams of having beautiful clothes. This book was a finalist for the 2001 Irish Literature Prize for Fiction.
Landing
Her 2007 novel, Landing, tells the story of a long-distance relationship. It's between a museum curator from Canada and a flight attendant from Ireland.
The Sealed Letter
The Sealed Letter (2008) is another historical fiction book. It's based on a famous divorce case in Britain from 1864, known as the Codrington Affair. The main character is Emily Faithfull. The Sealed Letter was considered for the Giller Prize. It also won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction alongside another book.
Room
On July 27, 2010, Emma Donoghue's novel Room was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. This means it was one of the books chosen for a possible award. On September 7, 2010, it made the shortlist, meaning it was one of the final few books.
On November 2, 2010, Room won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. It was also a finalist for the 2010 Governor General's Awards in Canada. The book won the Irish Book Award in 2010. It was also a finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011.
Emma Donoghue later wrote the screenplay for the movie version of the book, Room (2015). For this, she was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award. In 2017, she adapted the story into a play. It was performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
Frog Music
Emma Donoghue's novel Frog Music came out in 2014. It's a historical fiction book. It's based on the real story of a cross-dressing frog catcher from the 19th century who was murdered.
The Wonder
Donoghue's 2016 novel The Wonder was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The story is about a case of Anorexia mirabilis. This is when someone claims to survive without food. An English nurse is hired to watch a "fasting girl" in a very religious Irish family. The book also shows the effects of the Crimean War and the Great Famine on the characters.
A movie based on the novel was released in autumn 2022. Sebastián Lelio directed it. Emma Donoghue and Alice Birch wrote the screenplay. Florence Pugh played the main role. Critics praised the direction, acting, and cinematography.
Akin
Akin (2019) is a modern novel. It talks a lot about events that happened during the Second World War in France.
The Pull of the Stars
Emma Donoghue's novel The Pull of the Stars (2020) was published earlier than planned. This was because it was set during the 1918 influenza pandemic in Dublin, Ireland. All the characters were made up, except for Dr Kathleen Lynn. The novel received very good reviews from critics. It was also considered for the Giller Prize in 2020.
Haven
This novel, published in 2022, is set in the seventh century. It tells the story of monks on Skellig Michael, an island. One reviewer said that while Haven might not be her easiest novel to read, it ends with a hopeful feeling. The book was a finalist for the 2024 International Dublin Literary Award.
Learned by Heart
This novel, published in 2023, explores the friendship between Anne Lister and Eliza Raine. It takes place when they were at Miss Hargrave's Manor school. The book looks at their strong connection. It also includes Eliza's thoughts from an asylum later on. People liked how it showed first love. However, some critics felt the detailed school life sometimes took away from the main story.
Learned by Heart was a finalist for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
The Paris Express
The Paris Express: A Novel (2025) is inspired by a real train accident in Paris in 1895, called the Montparnasse derailment.
Movie and Play Adaptations
Several of Emma Donoghue's works have been turned into movies or plays:
- Pluck (2001), a short film directed by Neasa Hardiman. It was based on her short story "Pluck."
- Room (2015), a movie directed by Lenny Abrahamson. This was based on her novel Room.
- The Wonder (2022), a Netflix movie directed by Sebastián Lelio. This was based on her 2016 novel The Wonder.
