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The Good Son in Gay Literature Celebration

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Since winning The Polari First Book Prize The Good Son has featured in WHSmith promotions a number of times and now it will part of the WHSmith celebration of gay literature alongside classics from Edmund White, E.M. Forster, James Baldwin and William Burroughs. You can find the gay literature promotion in select WHSmith UK travel stores from 22nd June – 12th July. Here’s what they say over on their blog where you can also see the other books they’ve chosen…

“50 years ago in July 1967, the Sexual Offences Act decriminalised homosexual behaviour between men over the age of 21 in England and Wales. To commemorate this landmark Act, we’ve put together a list of important gay literature from the past 100 years, including classics, debuts, fiction, non-fiction and anything in-between.”

whsmith

It’s a honour to sit alongside these classics.

 

Winner of The Polari Prize
“Pungently funny and shot through with streaks of aching sadness.” Patrick Gale
“I devoured it in a day, but I’ve thought about it for many, many more.” Lisa McInerney
“Funny, raw and endlessly entertaining.” Johnathan Coe

An Interview in Die Welt

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An interview with me appeared in the German broadsheet Die Welt at the weekend.

It follows on some of the points raised in my essay for International Literature Showcase ‘Crossing Borders’ which was later picked up by The Belfast Telegraph.

The interview is in German, of course, so I have only google translate to help me read it. I hope I come across ok.

The German translation of The Good Son is ‘Guter Junge’ and if you happen to speak German you might enjoy these short extracts read by a wonderful German actor Denis Abrahams – Part 1 & Part 2.

 

Guter Junge

“Told vividly and with grim humour… McVeigh’s lush and, against all probability colourful novel from a black and white world bears the utopia that even in dark times, the hope can not be defeated.” Die Welt

 

 

 

Lovely Review of The Good Son

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Over on The British Council literature blog the staff are talking about their book pics this month. Matt Beavers, Literature Programme Manager had this to say about The Good Son –

“I’ve been reading The Good Son, Paul McVeigh’s debut novel which won the Polari First Book Prize in 2016. It is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 1980s Belfast. Mickey Donnelly is about to head to secondary school. He got into the local grammar but his parents can’t afford it so he is counting down the days until his first day at St Gabriel’s, which he’s dreading. The book is a fantastic and moving journey into the mind of a young boy who knows he is different and is trying to make sense of himself and the difficult world around him. Through Mickey’s first person narration, we gain a vivid insight into the atmosphere of Troubles and their impact on everyday family and community life. The book is nonetheless hopeful and extremely funny. I look forward to reading more from Paul in future.”

Nice way to start the week.

The Good Son 3rd Editon

Winner of The Polari Prize
“Both dancing and disquieting, complex and vivid, I devoured it in a day, but I’ve thought about it for many, many more.” Lisa McInerney
“It’s a triumph of storytelling, an absolute gem.” Donal Ryan
“Funny, raw and endlessly entertaining.” Johnathan Coe

Polari Literary Salon comes to Belfast

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Fri 16 June 8pm: Reading at Polari Literary Salon at Sunflower Pub

You catch me reading at The Belfast Book Festival this year as The Polari Literary Salon comes to Belfast for the first time! Polari was founded by author Paul Burston who also founded the Polari First Novel Award which I won last year.

 

cropped-me-winning-the-polari.jpg

Juliet Jacques, me & Paul Burston at Polari Prize ceremony

 

Paul and author Vg Lee will be flying over and will be reading from their work. Here’s a little but about the Polari  Salon…

London’s award-winning LGBT literary salon. Now in its tenth year, Polari has been showcasing the best in established and emerging LGBT literary talent since 2007. Polari is curated and hosted by author Paul Burston and features a mixture of visiting and local guests.

Polari began in November 2007 in the upstairs room of a bar in Soho. Events are now held monthly at the Southbank Centre and feature the best in established and emerging LGBT literary talent.

“Always fun, always thought-provoking – a guaranteed good night out” – Sarah Waters

“Polari is a unique mix of voices that provokes the strongest responses from its audience – love, laughter, tears, but most of all, thought” – Val McDermid

“London’s most theatrical salon” – The New York Times

Hope to see some of you there.

My George Saunders Interview

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I was lucky enough to interview George Saunders a couple of years ago. It was an amazing experience and a real ‘moment’ in my writing career.
George Saunders

George Saunders (c) Paul McVeigh

Recently I got to sit on a panel with for BBC Radio 3 thanks to New Writing North & Word Factory. We talked about the short story and read some of our work.
George and me BBC 3
George was up for another chat and interview that day which we did thanks to Bloomsbury Books. You can read it over at The Irish Times where George talks about his debut novel, writing, Trump and his wife’s upcoming novel. I hope you enjoy it.

Talking Translation: International Literature Festival Dublin

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I’m looking forward to my fist visit to The International Literature Festival Dublin.

ILFD

I’m part of an event called Talking Translation – Writing and Rewriting: Writers and Translators in Conversation on May 27 at 10.30am – 12.30pm.

At this literary brunch in the fabulous Drury Buildings, broadcaster and presenter Sinéad Gleeson will interview me, Paul Fournel from France and Rasha Khayat from Germany about our work and experiences with translation and translators.

Also present to talk about their translating challenges will be Hans-Christian Oeser, who co-translated my novel The Good Son into German (Guter Junge ), and Sinead Crowe, who is working on the English translation of Rasha Khayat’s novel Weil Wir Längst Woanders Sind. The discussion will be followed by some short multilingual readings, after which the audience will have the chance to ask us questions and talk further with us over brunch.

Guter Junge

 

From the website: Speakers: Rasha Khayat, German author and translator from Arabic and English. Paul Fournel, writer and member of the Oulipo movement. Paul McVeigh, author of The Good Son, published in 2015, and winner of the Polari Prize and the McCrea Literary Award. Hans-Christian Oeser, editor, critic and translator of Paul McVeigh and numerous other writers from Ireland and other English-speaking countries. Sinéad Crowe, German to English translator of authors including Rasha Khayat.

Moderator: Sinéad Gleeson, journalist and broadcaster who presents ‘The Book Show’ on RTÉ Radio, reports on RTÉ’s ‘The Work’s’ and writes for The Irish Times.

Organised by the French Embassy in Ireland, the German Embassy Dublin, the Goethe-Institut Irland and Literature Ireland within the framework of the French- German cultural funds.