Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief

Katriona O'Sullivan

May 2023 · Penguin · Narrated by Katriona O'Sullivan

About this audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin.

'We love a rags-to-riches story, and we love to see someone triumph through sheer determination. But the story is rarely that simple. My story isn't, anyway.'

As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O'Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping.

This is the extraordinary story - moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling - of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revived those seeds in adulthood.

Now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education, Poor stands as a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids' futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.

'One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet' Guardian

'An amazing story . . . moving, uplifting, brave, heroic, shocking at times' Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour, BBC

'[Poor] is moving, funny, brave and original - just like the author . . . an absolutely incredible read' Roisin Ingle, Irish Times' Women's Podcast


©2023 Katriona O'Sullivan (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Ratings and reviews

Amazing very nice story

Amazing book.

About the author

Dr Katriona O'Sullivan was born in Coventry to Irish parents. In 1998, at 20, she moved from Birmingham to Dublin and subsequently enrolled in the Trinity College access programme. She went on to gain a PhD in psychology from Trinity and joined its staff. She now works as a senior lecturer in Digital Skills in Maynooth University's Department of Psychology. She has worked with policy-makers to develop strategies around education and inclusion, and has been an invited speaker at the UN, the World Education Forum, the European Gender Action Workshop on Women and Digitalization. Most recently, the programme she leads to improve working class girls' access to education in STEM subjects won the Most Impactful Initiative award at the Women in Tech Europe Awards in Amsterdam. She is married with three children and lives in Dublin. Poor is her first book.