Discipline: Literature – fiction

Nuala O'Faolain

Discipline: Literature – fiction
Region: County Clare, IRELAND
MacDowell Fellowships: 2007

Nuala O'Faolain (1940-2008) was an Irish journalist, TV producer, book reviewer, teacher, and writer. She became well known after the publication of her memoirs Are You Somebody? and Almost There. She went on to write a biography of Irish criminal Chicago May and two novels. The first three were all featured on The New York Times Best Seller list. Her posthumously-published novel Best Love, Rosie was published in 2009. O'Faolain's formative years coincided with the emergence of the women's movement, and her ability to expose misogyny in all its forms was formidable, forensic, and unremitting. However, O'Faolain's feminism stemmed from a fundamental belief in social justice. Unlike most commentators, who maintain a detached, lofty tone, O'Faolain, placed herself at the center of things, a high-risk strategy that worked because of her broad range of erudition, worn lightly, her courage, and a truthfulness that sometimes bordered on the self-destructive.

Studios

Garland

Nuala O'Faolain worked in the Garland studio.

Marian MacDowell and friends originally named this studio in memory of Anna Baetz, the nurse who helped care for Edward MacDowell in the waning years of his life. With generous support from the Garland family, the studio was renovated in 2013 and renamed the Peter and Mary Garland Studio. The inward opening, diamond-pane windows were replaced…

Learn more