Damhnait Monaghan won the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Award in the Romance category for her debut novel New Girl in Little Cove. The book was inspired by the years Damhnait spent teaching in outport Newfoundland. Her debut was also named a Most Anticipated Rom/Com by Chapters/Indigo. The Globe & Mail called it “a warm hug of a book” and Post Media said “This charming fish-out-of-water tale practically begs to make the leap from page to screen as a heart-warming movie.”

Damhnait (pronounced “Downith”) is an award-winning flash fiction writer with numerous publication credits. Her novella-in-flash, ‘The Neverlands,’ was voted Best Novella in the 2020 Saboteur Awards. She was born and grew up in Canada (Ontario and Newfoundland & Labrador). After 25 years in England, she returned to Ontario in 2025.