Cathy Kelly | |
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Born | [1] Belfast, Northern Ireland | 12 September 1966
Language | English |
Period | 1997–present |
Genre | Women's fiction |
Subject | Women and relationships |
Notable awards | RoNA Award |
Website | |
www |
Cathy Kelly (born September 12, 1966) is an Irish writer of women's fiction and a former journalist. In 2001, her novel Someone Like You won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association. [2]
Born in Belfast but raised in Dublin, [3] Kelly studied at a convent school. She was a journalist for the Sunday World, where she published an advice column and film criticism. [3]
Kelly published her first book Woman To Woman, which became an international bestseller, in 1997. [3] She published two more books, She’s The One and Never Too Late, before retiring from journalism in 2001. [4]
Someone Like You, What She Wants, Just Between Us, and Best of Friends followed in successive years. [4] Always and Forever was her first hardback to reach number one, then it topped the overall UK bestseller list in October 2005. [4]
Her books Lessons in Heartbreak and Homecoming were shortlisted for the Eason Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. [5] Once in a Lifetime topped the UK bestsellers again [6] for multiple weeks. [7] In March 2011, Homecoming did the same. Her short story collection, Christmas Magic, was the Christmas number one in Ireland. [4] She is a number one bestseller in Australia and New Zealand, where she tours annually, and her works have been translated into many different languages. [8]
Kelly is involved with many charities and has been an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland since 2005. [3] [9]
In 2022, Kelly appeared on the fifth series of the Irish version of Dancing With the Stars. [10]