Naoise Dolan
Novelist
Naoise Dolan
Novelist
Naoise’s debut novel Exciting Times was published in 2020 and became a Sunday Times bestseller shortlisted for several awards, widely translated, and optioned for TV. Naoise is currently editing her next novel.
On Autism, Coronavirus & Lockdown
“I see first-time authors despairing about not getting to shake hands with readers or see their book in shops and wonder if I’m cold for not sharing their disappointment. But I think that’s internalised ableism talking when really I’m just wired differently”.
The same internalised ableism is screaming at me that I’m wrong to see anything positive about my shift in circumstances. But it is fair for disabled people, autistics included, to point out that many now-emerging accommodations could have been granted sooner if people had cared about accessibility. I find it autism-unfriendly having to promote my work in person for many reasons: socialising, sensory overload, the organisational and practical demands. But I’d accepted all this as the cost of having a writing career. But the moment allistic authors needed remote adjustments, they happened”.
The above was taken from Naoise’s interview with Refinery 29 https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/autism-coronavirus-lockdown
