Donal Ryan

Donal Ryan is an Irish writer who was born in Co. Tipperary. He received a law degree from The University of Limerick and worked for the National Employment Rights Authority before becoming a full time writer.

His debut novel, The Spinning Heart, was published in 2012 and was longlisted for the Booker Prize (2013).  It also received the Irish Book Awards Best Irish Newcomer (2012), the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year (2012), Guardian First Book Award, winner (2013), and the European Union Prize for Literature (Ireland) (2015).

His second novel, The Thing About December, was published in 2013, although written before The Spinning Heart.  It was shortlisted for the Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards (2013).

Donal has also written A Slanting of the Sun (2015) and All We Shall Know (2016).