Ferdia Lennon
Ferdia Lennon (born 1988) is an Irish author. His debut novel, Glorious Exploits, was a bestseller that won numerous awards and was adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Biography
Lennon was born to an Irish mother and a Libyan father and grew up in Tallaght, County Dublin.[1]
Lennon graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in history and classics from University College Dublin and a Master of Arts (MA) in prose fiction from the University of East Anglia.[2] He lives in Norwich with his wife and son.[3]
Career
His debut novel, Glorious Exploits was a Sunday Times bestseller. It has been adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024, the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, the Premio Gregor von Rezzori and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.[4][5] It was also shortlisted for several other awards, including the Nero Debut Fiction Award, formerly known as the Costa Awards.[6] the 2025 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.[7] and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
Awards and honours
Literary awards
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Glorious Exploits | Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction | — | Won | |
| Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize | Won | ||||
| Waterstones Book of the Year | Shortlisted | ||||
| Nero Debut Fiction Award | Shortlisted | ||||
| Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction | Longlisted | ||||
| Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards | Fiction | Shortlisted | [8] | ||
| 2025 | Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Shortlisted | ||
| British Book Awards | Shortlisted | ||||
| Runciman Award | Shortlisted | ||||
| Authors’ Club First Novel Award | Won | ||||
| Premio Gregor von Rezzori | Won | ||||
| Walter Scott Prize | Shortlisted | [9] | |||
| Rooney Prize for Irish Literature | Won | ||||
References
- ↑ Coffey, Edel. "Writer's Block with Ferdia Lennon". The Gloss. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
- ↑ Cummins, Anthony (31 August 2024). "Ferdia Lennon: 'I was tired of Merchant Ivory accents'". The Guardian.
- ↑ Lennon, Ferdia (3 January 2025). "Ferdia Lennon: 'Tolstoy made me more forgiving of myself and other people'". The Guardian.
- ↑ "UK: PRH's Ferdia Lennon is the 24th Bollinger Prize Winner". 2 December 2024.
- ↑ "Ferdia Lennon: 'I couldn't finish Finnegans Wake, I wonder if Joyce made it impenetrable because he knew he couldn't outdo Ulysses'". 22 January 2025.
- ↑ "Ferdia Lennon wins Wodehouse Prize and is one of several Irish authors on Nero Awards shortlists". The Irish Times.
- ↑ "Ferdia Lennon and Yael van der Wouden shortlisted for several awards including the £20k Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize".
- ↑ Spanoudi, Melina (2024-10-10). "David Nicholls and Rory Stewart shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards". The Bookseller.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "2025 Shortlist announced from Abbotsford". Walter Scott Prize. 15 April 2025. Retrieved 19 April 2025.