Kit De Waal

Kit De Waal (aka Mandy Theresa O’Loughlin, b 1960, UK) is a British/Irish author.

She worked for fifteen years as a legal assistant in criminal law and family law. She was also an advisor for an adoption board.

Her first novel, My Name is Leon, was published in 2016. It was nominated for the British Book Awards in the category Debut book of the year, and was named Book of the Year in Ireland. In 2022 she published her memoirs Without Warning & Only Sometimes: Scenes from and Unpredictable Childhood.

On receiving an advance to write My Name is Leon she created a scholarship for creative writing, with the aim of improving the representation of the working class in literature.

She is a guest professor in creative writing at the University of Leicester.