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Dolly Alderton

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Dolly Alderton
Alderton in 2024
Alderton in 2024
BornHannah Alderton
31 August 1988 (1988-08-31) (age 36)
London, England
OccupationAuthor and screenwriter
Education
Notable works
Website
dollyalderton.com

Dolly Alderton (born 31 August 1988) is a British author and screenwriter. She is also columnist for The Sunday Times.[1] Her memoir Everything I Know About Love[2][3] won a 2018 National Book Award for autobiography[4][5] and was shortlisted for the 2019 Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year in the British Book Awards,[6] and adapted into a BBC/Peacock eponymous television drama series.[7]

Early life

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Alderton was born in London and raised in Stanmore.[8] She was born to British and Canadian parents, and describes herself as "half Canadian".[9] Born Hannah Alderton, she changed her name to Dolly in her early teens.[10][11] She was educated at St Margaret's School in Bushey, and Rugby School, where she boarded in the sixth form.[12][13] She earned a degree in Drama and English from the University of Exeter,[14] and a master's degree in journalism from City University.[15][16]

Career

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Alderton is an author, journalist and podcast host.[17]

Journalism

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Alderton began writing for The Sunday Times in 2015, working initially as a dating columnist from 2015 to 2017.[1][18] In 2020, she began working as an agony aunt for The Sunday Times in her column Dear Dolly.[14][19]

Books

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Alderton's debut book, Everything I Know About Love, was published in February 2018.[18] BBC News described it as "offering readers a frank and deeply personal account of friendships, relationships and growing up as a millennial".[19] The memoir was shortlisted for the National Book Awards in 2018 in the Autobiography category (won that year by Michelle Obama for Becoming).[20][18] It was shortlisted for the 2018 Waterstones Book of the Year.[18][21] In October 2020, Alderton was working on a TV adaptation of Everything I Know About Love.[22] It was produced by Working Title Television and Universal International Studios for BBC, with a screenplay by Alderton, directed by China Moo-Young.[citation needed]

Her first novel, Ghosts, was published in October 2020 by Fig Tree.[23] The novel concerns a 32-year-old food writer, Nina, who meets someone through a dating app, while her father is beginning to show signs of dementia.[24][22] In October 2020, it was reported that Alderton had sold the film rights to Ghosts.[22]

In October 2022, Alderton released a third book entitled Dear Dolly, a collection of her Sunday Times columns and a new personal essay.[25][26]

Alderton's second novel, Good Material, was released in November 2023.[27] In 2024 Alderton was nominated for and shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for her novel Good Material.[28]

Podcasts

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Alderton co-created and co-hosted The High Low with Pandora Sykes.[29] The High Low was a weekly podcast focusing on pop culture and current affairs.[30] The podcast ran for four years and over 150 episodes were recorded.[29] The final episode aired on 2 December 2020.[30] The High Low: A Christmas Special Live Stream took place on 8 December 2020 to raise funds for Blood Cancer UK.[31]

Alderton presented the podcast Love Stories in conjunction with her book Everything I Know About Love, where she interviewed a number of guests including Stanley Tucci, Ruth Jones and Marian Keyes. Season one was released between February 2018 and May 2018, and season two between January 2019 and March 2019.[32] In January 2019, Penguin published a feature titled Six inspiring lessons I learnt from Love Stories, where Alderton described the experience as a "great privilege".[33]

Alderton has been a guest on numerous podcasts, including Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster,[34] How to Fail with Elizabeth Day,[35] and Table Manners with Jessie Ware.[36] She was the very first guest on Margaret Cabourn-Smith's podcast Crushed by Margaret Cabourn-Smith.[citation needed]

From February to April 2021, Alderton co-hosted a spin-off series for the Sentimental Garbage podcast titled Sentimental in the City with Caroline O'Donoghue.[37] In March 2021, the podcast received a five-star review in The Times.[38]

Themes

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Alderton's work explores themes of love, female friendship, and her experiences living as a millennial woman.[39][40]

Naomi Gordon described Alderton's memoir Everything I Know about Love as "self-deprecating, and occasionally heartbreaking[,] musings on love, friendship, relationships, and growing up as millennial".[41]

Film, TV and radio

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From 2011, Alderton worked as a story producer for series 2-5 of the BAFTA-winning Made in Chelsea, made by Monkey Kingdom.[17]

Alderton has written and directed two independent films with her writing partner Lauren Bensted. Alderton released The Confluence, a documentary about Tagg's Island in 2014, and Anna Island, a short film accepted to the London Short Film Festival, in 2015.[42]

Alderton worked as a script assistant on the final series of Channel 4's Fresh Meat and directed the behind-the-scenes online videos for the last series of Fresh Meat and the last series of Channel 4's Peep Show.[17]

Alderton adapted her book Everything I Know About Love into a romantic comedy with Working Title TV. In May 2021, Alderton announced that the adaptation had been commissioned by the BBC and later by Peacock in the US.[41] The BBC synopsis describes the romantic comedy as a portrayal of two best friends, Maggie and Birdy, as they "finally land in London to live it large, when the unexpected happens – dependable Birdy gets a steady boyfriend". It has been described as a "generous, funny, warm-hearted and uplifting Sex & The City for millennials which covers bad dates and squalid flat-shares, heartaches and humiliations, and, most importantly, unbreakable female friendships".[41] The drama premiered on BBC One in June 2022 and stars Emma Appleton, Bel Powley, Marli Siu and Aliyah Odoffin. All episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.[43] In the same month, it was announced that NBCUniversal's Peacock picked the series as well for US streaming to add to its original programming catalogue lineup for the summer season, and it premiered on 25 August 2022.

In 2020, she appeared on BBC Radio 4's Great Lives, nominating American actress Doris Day.[44]

Recognition

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She appeared in a Forbes 30 Under 30 List in 2018.[45] In 2019, she was a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction.[9][46]

In 2022, she was awarded an honorary D.Litt degree by the University of Exeter.[47]

Personal life

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Food is one of her principal interests; she has named spaghetti vongole as her preferred last meal,[48] and is passionate about pickling and vinegar.[49]

Books

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  • Everything I Know About Love. Penguin Books. 2019. ISBN 9780241982105. (Reissued "With a new chapter on everything I know at thirty")
  • Ghosts: a novel. Fig Tree. 15 October 2020. ISBN 978-0241434543.
  • Dear Dolly. Penguin Books. 27 October 2022. ISBN 9780241623640.
  • Good Material. Penguin Books. 9 November 2023. ISBN 9780241523667.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dolly Alderton | The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ^ Ermelino, Louisa (20 December 2019). "A Memoir That Serves as a Playbook for Your 20s". www.publishersweekly.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. ^ Burchill, Julie (13 February 2018). "Everything I Know About Love is a shockingly intimate memoir from former sex columnist Dolly Alderton". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Specsavers National Book Awards 2018". Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Dolly Alderton". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year". British Book Awards. The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  7. ^ Gordon, Naomi (19 May 2021). "Everything I Know About Love TV series: a guide to Dolly Alderton's BBC adaptation". www.harpersbazaar.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  8. ^ Hampson, Laura (5 February 2018). "Everything you need to know about Dolly Alderton's new book". www.standard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  9. ^ a b "About". Dolly Alderton. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  10. ^ "In a few short years, Dolly Alderton made herself a brand. This is how she did it". Mamamia. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  11. ^ "The Iris Letter : October 2016". us13.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Dolly Alderton tackles privilege and guilt". The Sunday Times. 17 February 2019. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  13. ^ S4 Ep 2: Dolly Alderton, 17 October 2018, archived from the original on 9 May 2021, retrieved 9 May 2021
  14. ^ a b "Dolly Alderton: 'I'm a romantic and open to a relationship but it's not at the top of my list'". belfasttelegraph. 24 October 2020. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  15. ^ Radio, N. T. S. "In Good Company w/ Dolly Alderton 28th February 2019". NTS Radio. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Dolly Alderton - Writer and podcaster". 27 July 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b c "About - Dolly Alderton". dollyalderton.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  18. ^ a b c d "Dolly Alderton: 'We're so keen to moralise the female experience'". The Guardian. 15 December 2018. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Why Dolly Alderton stopped writing about her personal life". BBC News. 13 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Shortlists". National Book Awards. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Rooney, Alderton and Eliot shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2018 | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  22. ^ a b c "Dolly Alderton: 'I wanted to reflect the reality that getting older has been incredibly complicated'". independent. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  23. ^ Doyle, Martin (9 September 2020). "Thirty books to look out for this autumn". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  24. ^ Donkor, Michael (21 October 2020). "Ghosts by Dolly Alderton review – a sharp-eyed debut". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  25. ^ Blair, Sonia (12 July 2022). "Everything we know about the new Dolly Alderton book, 'Dear Dolly'". RUSSH. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  26. ^ Cochrane, Ellis (2 November 2022). "8 Life Lessons I Picked Up From Dolly Alderton's New Book, "Dear Dolly"". POPSUGAR Entertainment UK. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  27. ^ Alderton, Dolly (9 November 2023). Good Material. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780241523667.
  28. ^ Creamer, Ella (24 October 2024). "David Nicholls heads shortlist for Wodehouse comic fiction prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  29. ^ a b "The High Low goes out on a high – podcasts of the week". The Guardian. 4 December 2020. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  30. ^ a b Goldsbrough, Susannah (1 December 2020). "The High Low podcast soundtracked the lives of thousands of women – we will miss it sorely". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Blood Cancer UK | The High Low Show". Blood Cancer UK. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  32. ^ "Love Stories on acast". acast. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Dolly Alderton: Six inspiring lessons I learnt from Love Stories". www.penguin.co.uk. 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  34. ^ "Ep 78: Dolly Alderton". 14 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021 – via play.acast.com.
  35. ^ Development, PodBean. "S1, Ep3 How to Fail: Dolly Alderton". howtofail.podbean.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  36. ^ "S4 Ep 2: Dolly Alderton". 17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021 – via play.acast.com.
  37. ^ "Introducing: Sentimental in the City, with Dolly Alderton". 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021 – via play.acast.com.
  38. ^ Marriott, James. "Fortunately . . . with Fi and Jane review — radio veterans switch medium and subjects elegantly". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  39. ^ "Dolly Alderton's notes on being a woman". i-D. 18 January 2018. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  40. ^ Snapes, Laura (15 December 2018). "Dolly Alderton: 'We're so keen to moralise the female experience'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  41. ^ a b c Gordon, Naomi (19 May 2021). "Everything I Know About Love TV series: a guide to Dolly Alderton's BBC adaptation". Harper's BAZAAR. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  42. ^ "Film - Dolly Alderton". dollyalderton.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  43. ^ "Everything I Know About Love".
  44. ^ "Dolly Alderton on Doris Day". Great Lives. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  45. ^ "30 Under 30 Europe 2018: Media & Marketing". Forbes. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  46. ^ "Announcing the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction Winner". Women's Prize for Fiction. 5 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  47. ^ "Previous honorary graduates". www.exeter.ac.uk. University of Exeter. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  48. ^ "Up Close With Dolly Alderton". The London Mummy. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  49. ^ Podcasts, Spectator (20 October 2020). "With Dolly Alderton | Table Talk | The Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
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