Irish writer Emma Donoghue was BOTD in 1969. Born in Dublin to a middle class family, she studied at Trinity College Dublin and latterly at Cambridge University, where she met her life partner Christine Roulston. Her first two novels, Stir Fry and Hood were lesbian coming-of-age stories set in Ireland. Her historical novels Slammerkin and The Sealed Letter, both based on Victorian court cases, explored class struggle and closeted lesbian sexuality. She is best known for her 2010 novel Room, narrated by a young boy who has grown up living in captivity with his mother. An international bestseller, it won a number of literary prizes. A 2015 film followed, with a screenplay by Donohue, earning her an Oscar nomination and a Best Actress win for its star Brie Larson. Returning to historical fiction, her recent work includes Frog Music, The Wonder (filmed in 2022, with a screenplay co-written by Donoghue), The Pull of the Stars and Haven. Her 2023 book Learned by Heart, was a fictional chronicle of queer diarist Anne Lister‘s doomed affair with orphaned biracial heiress Eliza Raine. Donoghue’s latest novel, The Paris Express, was published in 2025. She lives in London, Ontario in Canada with Roulston, with whom she has two children.