Ruth Gilligan
Ruth Gilligan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988 Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist (also Actress) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Period | 2006 - present |
| Genre | Romance, sentimental, chick lit |
Ruth Gilligan is an Irish writer and actress, born in Dublin, Ireland.
Life
Gilligan's father is an accountant and her mother a speech therapist, her brother David is ten years her senior, and the family live in Blackrock.
Career
She studied acting at the Betty Ann Norton Theatre School in Dublin from the age of six, and later secured theatre, TV commercial and short film roles.
At second level, Gilligan attended St. Andrew's College, Booterstown, and while there, she played Laura Halpin in the Irish soap opera Fair City, and wrote the first of her two novels, Forget[1][2] as a Transition Year secondary school project.[3] After reading and editing by successful novelist Patricia Scanlan, and extensive rewriting, the novel was published in 2006 in the UK and Ireland, reaching number 1 on the Bestsellers' List, making her the youngest person in Ireland ever to have done so.
Achieving eight A1 grades in her Leaving Certificate examinations, Gilligan continued her studies at Cambridge University achieving a first class honours degree in English Literature from Gonville and Caius College, and while in second year there published her second novel, Somewhere in Between, which has also recently been translated into German.
In January 2009, Gilligan was announced as the youngest ever recipient of an O'Reilly Foundation Scholarship to pursue advanced studies in English literature.[4]
Her third book was launched in Blackrock near Dublin in August 2009, following which she discussed her work, scholarship, lifestyle and the English Olympic fencing boyfriend Alex O'Connell to whom the book is dedicated, in a live TV interview.[5]
Gilligan has announced that her fourth book will be released for Christmas 2012. The fourth book is an autobiography entitled "Celtic Tigress: Life in the Fast Lane". During an interview Gilligan released the following as chapter titles : "Katie French: or burnt too bright", "Why I'm bigger than Samantha Mumba" and "My BF: The Olympian".
From 2009-2010 she attended Yale University, earning an MA in English Literature. From 2010-2011 she was enrolled on the Creative Writing MA Program at UEA.
Books
- Forget (Number 1 bestseller)
- Somewhere in Between
- Can You See Me?
References, notes and sources
- Notes
- ^ Gilligan, Ruth (2006). Forget. Dublin: Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 279 p., 24 cm. ISBN 0-340-92088-2.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Heaney, Mick (December 31, 2006). "The leisure principle. The big names of Irish literature have largely chosen the simple life over hard graft". Arts & Entertainment. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Heaney, Mick (August 13, 2006). "Ireland: Teenage kickstart. With the publication of her first novel, Forget, the Fair City actress Ruth Gilligan looks set to be a face to remember, ..." Arts & Entertainment. The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Headline paragraph on official Foundation site, retrieved 6 February 2009
- ^ TV3 interview
- Other sources
- "Tubridy Tonight: Ruth Gilligan (television interview)". RTÉ. 23 September 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
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