Moya Roddy spent two-years painting in Italy before moving to London where she trained as a television director. Her screenplays have been optioned in the US and she’s worked for Channel 4, BBC, Scottish Television and RTÉ. Her novel The Long Way Home (Attic Press) was described in the Irish Times as “simply brilliant”. Her collection of short stories Other People (Wordsonthestreet) was nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. She was awarded an MA in Writing (Hons First Class) from NUIG in 2008.  Her poetry was shortlisted for the Hennessy Award and her debut collection Out of the Ordinary was shortlisted for the Strong Shine Award in 2018. She also facilitates meditation at Brigit’s Garden.

It’s 1975 and Jo Nowd is escaping to Italy with a suitcase full of paints and a broken heart. Working-class, feisty and sometimes inarticulate, she entertains wild dreams of becoming a great artist and a woman of the world, showing people back home, especially ex-flame Eamonn, exactly what she’s capable of.

Jo’s soul yearns for something deeper and her passionate love for the medieval art of Sienna leads her on a journey of discovery and a year of unexpected revelations.

Deceptively simple, yet profound and funny, a wiser girl is an original and fascinating read.

‘Dubliner Jo Nowd leaps off the page. Irreverent, incorrigible, intense, she plunges into a new life in Italy with a newly broken heart. But don’t be fooled by Moya Roddy’s breezy style or mistake a wiser girl for just another coming-of-age story. Through Jo’s journey from sitting for an artist to becoming one, Moya Roddy delves into life’s great paradoxes – body versus soul, art versus action, sex versus love, happiness versus authenticity. Her writing is full of verve, wit and compassion. This is Normal People for a different generation.’
                                       Mary Morrissy author of Prosperity Drive

‘a wiser girl, delivered with sparkling humour by Moya Roddy, is the story of heartbroken, Irish would-be artist Jo, who hurtles headlong into the sensual delights of Italy as she tries to find new, better ways to be in the world. A funny, fast-paced delight.’

                                        Nuala O’Connor, author of Becoming Belle  

A Wiser Girl, a novel by Moya Roddy

262pp, €14.00, ISBN 9781907017599