Louise Kennedy (born 1967) is an Irish writer.
Early life and education Kennedy was born in 1967; she grew up in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, and, from the age of 12, in Dublin and Kildare. She worked as a chef for 30 years before joining a creative writing group at a friend's insistence. Kennedy has an MA and a PhD in creative writing from Queen's University Belfast.
Writing Kennedy's early short stories appeared in publications including The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, Banshee, Wasafiri and Ambit. She was shortlisted for the 2019 and 2020 Sunday Times Short Story Awards, for "In Silhouette" and "Sparing the Heather" respectively.
Kennedy's first novel, Trespasses (2022), was shortlisted for the 2022 (inaugural) Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. Kennedy has described the novel as "a star-crossed love story set in a small town near Belfast in 1975, at the height of the time known as The Troubles". It was developed as the 2025 TV series Trespasses.
She published a book of short stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, in 2023. Kirkus Reviews described the stories as "set in a contemporary Ireland divided by wealth and education". The Guardian reviewer called it a "dazzling, heartbreaking debut collection", and the New York Journal of Books wrote of "deep-probing, slice-of-life stories seamlessly woven in stark vignettes without a filter".
She has also written for The Guardian, The Irish Times, and BBC Radio 4.
Personal life Kennedy lives in Sligo.
Awards and recognition Kennedy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2025. Year Book Award Category Result Ref 2022 Trespasses Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award — Irish Book Award Novel of the Year Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize — 2023British Book Award Overall Book of the Year Début Book of the Year Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award — McKitterick Prize — Women's Prize for Fiction —
Selected publications
References
Further reading