Rachel Connolly
Rachel Connolly is an Irish author, journalist, critic and essayist. Her debut novel Lazy City won a Betty [Trask Award].
Early life
Connolly was born in Belfast and is from a Catholic background. Connolly attended Methodist College Belfast. She graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in maths and physics.Career
After graduating from university, Connolly had her first full-time job working for an insurance company as a risk analyst. She took leave to pursue two newspaper internships, including at The Independent. In 2018, Connolly earned a Google Fellowship to join the RTÉ investigations department. During this time, she also started freelancing. As a critic and essayist, Connolly has contributed to publications including The Guardian, the London Review of Books, the Financial Times, The New Republic, The Cut and The [New York Times].In 2022, Canongate Books acquired the rights to publish Connolly's debut novel Lazy City in 2023. The contemporary novel follows a character who moves back to Belfast from London after the death of a friend. Lazy City won a Betty Trask Award and was selected as an RTÉ Book of the Week by Aimée Walsh. Connolly was named a summer 2023 emerging author by Dazed.