'I'm doomed to keep telling these stories': Sally Rooney on being called the first great millennial author

Originally published on April 26, 2019

At just 28 years old, Irish novelist Sally Rooney has already been heralded as the voice of her generation.

Her second novel, Normal People, has been described as the "literary phenomenon of the decade" by the Guardian, and last summer, the New York Times called Rooney "the first great millennial author."

Normal People was released just a year after her first novel, Conversations with Friends, which also received positive reviews when it came out in 2017. Her latest book is a love story between two teenagers, Marianne and Connell, who are drawn together in rural Ireland, but find their relationship tested as they move on to university in Dublin.

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in the U.K., and it just recently hit shelves in North America.

Rooney joined q guest host Rollie Pemberton (a.k.a. Cadence Weapon) to reflect on her rapid rise to the rank of literary sensation and the responsibility that comes with so much critical acclaim.

Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.

— Produced by ​Frank Lockyer Palmer