Lyra McKee piece for The 32: Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices

Two bits of exciting news – ‘The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices’, which I’m editing, has received a huge donation of £3,000 from the wonderful people behind The Spaniard Belfast, Muriel’s Kitchen, Panama Belfast and new owners of The Chester Bar.

I have also secured a piece of writing by Lyra McKee who had agreed to be in the anthology before her tragic death. You can read all about it in the Belfast Telegraph article by Claire McNeilly.

“I met Lyra through Anna Burns, the Booker Prize winner, and the three of us had lunch together – three working class Ardoyne authors from three different generations,” he said.

“She told me her book was coming out and I spoke to her about being part of the anthology – that was before her book deal – and then, heartbreakingly, the tragedy happened.

“I recently talked to her publishers, who are bringing out a new book from her next month, and after I explained the back story, they are now giving me an unpublished piece of her writing to include, which is really amazing.”

Please pledge here to help make this book happen: unbound.com/books/32/.