Noelle McCarthy
Born
Noelle Maria McCarthy

1978 or 1979 (age 44–45)[1]
Cork, Ireland
CitizenshipIrish and New Zealand[2]
Occupation(s)Writer and broadcaster
Spouse
​
(m. 2018)​
Children1

Noelle Maria McCarthy (born 1978 or 1979) is an Irish-New Zealand writer and broadcaster. Having moved to New Zealand as a young woman, McCarthy became a radio broadcaster on Radio New Zealand and since 2017 has produced podcasts. Her memoir of her relationship with her mother, Grand: Becoming my mother's daughter, was published in 2022 and won the first book prize for general non-fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Life and career

McCarthy was born and grew up in Cork, Ireland,[3] and moved to New Zealand in her twenties.[4][5] She initially worked as a radio broadcaster at 95bFM, and hosted talkback segments on Newstalk ZB. She spent eight years as a producer and presenter at Radio New Zealand, including running her own show, Summer Noelle, for several years on RNZ National.[3][5][6] In 2008, before starting Summer Noelle, she apologised for plagiarising the work of British journalists while working as a presenter on another Radio New Zealand programme.[1] In 2009 she quit drinking after identifying that she had become an alcoholic.[7]

McCarthy and her husband, John Daniell, had a daughter in 2017 and were married the following year.[8] Since 2017 they have made podcasts together as Birds of Paradise Productions.[9] Their podcast, Getting Better, produced by McCarthy and Emma Espiner, won an award at the 2021 Voyager Media Awards.[3]

In 2018 McCarthy began writing a memoir of her relationship with her mother, after moving with her family from Auckland to Featherston and after her mother was diagnosed with cancer.[8] In 2020, she won the Short Memoir section of the Fish Publishing International Writing competition for "Buck Rabbit", a story in part based on her memoir writings.[4][10] Following the award, she wrote a first draft of the full-length book in a memoir course led by Renée.[11]

Grand: Becoming my mother's daughter was published in 2022, a year after the death of McCarthy's mother.[12] The book's focus is McCarthy's relationship with her mother while growing up, including the latter's alcoholism and the influence that this had on McCarthy.[13] It was selected as the best non-fiction of 2022 by Newsroom; reviewer Linda Burgess described McCarthy's writing as similar to her radio persona: "impulsive, fast, fluent and frighteningly bright".[14][15] Steve Braunias called the work a "howl of anguish and love".[11]

Grand received the E H McCormick Best First Book Award for General Non-Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[16] The award citation called it an "exquisite debut", with McCarthy's relationship with her mother "at times brutally detailed"; the book itself was termed "an uplifting memoir, delicate and self-aware, and a credit to McCarthy’s generosity and literary deftness".[17]

In 2023, McCarthy was the writer-in-residence at the International Institute of Modern Letters.[2][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Noelle McCarthy apologises for using others' work". The New Zealand Herald. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 "'The happiest day of my life': Noelle McCarthy on getting her driver's licence at 40". Stuff. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Kavanagh-Hall, Erin (19 March 2023). "Writer in line for a 'Grand' prize". Wairarapa Times-Age. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Noelle McCarthy: being a daughter and dealing with demons". Radio New Zealand. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Noelle McCarthy named as 2023 International Institute of Modern Letters Writer in Residence | News | Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria University of Wellington. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  6. ↑ King, Rachael (30 March 2022). "Noelle, the review". Newsroom. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Hewitson, Michele (25 July 2015). "Michele Hewitson interview: Noelle McCarthy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 Orr, Sue (13 April 2022). "Writer and broadcaster Noelle McCarthy unravels her family ties". Woman. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Meet Bird of Paradise: Getting Better – A Year In the Life of a Māori Medical Student". Radio New Zealand. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Canvas books wrap". The New Zealand Herald. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  11. 1 2 Braunias, Steve (29 March 2022). "Noelle, the interview". Newsroom. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Woulfe, Catherine (24 March 2022). "Crash and glitter: A review of Noelle McCarthy's new memoir". The Spinoff. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Spencer, Ruth (9 April 2022). "Book review: Grand, becoming my mother's daughter, by Noelle McCarthy". Stuff. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Burgess, Linda (20 December 2022). "Best book: Noelle". Newsroom. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Braunias, Steve (19 December 2022). "Ka pai: the 2022 ReadingRoom literary awards". Newsroom. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  16. ↑ Teodoro, Sue (25 May 2023). "First book is a winner". Wairarapa Times-Age. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "2023 Awards". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
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