Book Event: Bryan Moriarty – Sounds Like Fun
Join us for an evening with Bryan Moriarty as we celebrate his debut novel Sounds Like Fun.

Date and time
Thu, 12 Oct 2023 18:00 – 19:30
No Alibis Bookstore  83 Botanic Avenue Belfast BT7 1JL

Book your FREE tickets here

Meet Eoin. Eoin is doing great. He’s 27, gainfully employed and in a long-term relationship with his boyfriend Rich.

Okay, so his best friend Jax is diving into yet another disastrously bad relationship and Eoin’s going to be the one dealing with the eventual fallout. And his boss at the café, Rebecca, seems to have vanished, so somehow Eoin’s left managing the place.

And to be honest, he’s not got much else going on.

But still, he’s got his boyfriend Rich – steady, sensible and dependable Rich. That is, until Eoin’s world is turned upside down when Rich announces that he wants an open relationship. Terrified of losing the man he loves, Eoin reluctantly agrees to this new arrangement, and stumbles into the world of dating with no strings attached.

A warm and bittersweet novel about love, loneliness, coffee and the pitfalls of an ill-advised selfie, perfect for fans of Monica Heisey, Nora Ephron and Katherine Heiny.

‘Moriarty’s uplifting debut has much in common with Ephron’s classic novel Heartburn, covering as it does long-term love, casual sex and heartbreak.’ IRISH INDEPENDENT

‘Delightful . . . entertaining, often funny, but also makes you think about relationships, loneliness, and how to find out who you really are’ IRISH EXAMINER

“From the page to the stage, Marie-Louise Muir hosts the essential cultural conversation”

I join actor Matthew Cavan, singer Dana Masters and presenter Petroc Trelawny to talk Marie-Louise Muir.

We talk about our cultural highlights and our new projects. I talk about the Paul McVeigh Residency at the Harrison.

You can listen in here.

Winner of The Polari First Novel Prize

‘A triumph of storytelling. An absolute gem.’ Donal Ryan

‘Raw, funny and endlessly entertaining’. Jonathan Coe

I’m teaching my class That Killer First Page, at Brooks Hotel, Dublin, on October 21st.

On this course .. You’ll find out what competition judges and journal editors look for in a short story and how to avoid the rejection pile. Get tips on where to start the action and how to grab the reader. You’ll also look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories. 

Paul has edited three anthologies including the Irish Times Bestseller ‘The 32’. He edited the Southword Journal with contributions from Deborah Levy and Kit de Waal. He has judged many competitions and prizes including the £30,000 International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Edge Hill Prize and the Royal Society of Literature’s VS Pritchard Short Story Prize. He was Head of Literature for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He co-foudned the London Short Story Festival.

Paul McVeigh’s short fiction has been published in journals such as ‘The Stinging Fly’, and anthologies, such as, ‘Being Various’ and ‘The Art of the Glance’. They have also been read on BBC Radio, RTE and Sky Arts. He was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year 2017 at the Irish Book Awards. Paul co-founded London Short Story Festival and is Associate Director at Word Factory, the UK’s national centre for excellence in the short story. His ten-part short story series, ‘The Circus’, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023. His debut novel, The Good Son, won multiple awards and his writing has been translated into seven languages. 

He recently founded The Paul McVeigh Residency in the Harrison, Belfast.

This event sold out in Adelaide, Bali, Bath, Belfast, Cork, Galway, Kuala Lumpur, Lancaster, London, Melbourne & Singapore.

“I emerged from the sleepy hamlet of my writing infancy last Saturday and was sky-rocketed, hurricaned, tsunamied, autobahned and g-forced out of my head by Paul McVeigh’s ‘That Killer First Page’ Masterclass at Waterstones, Piccadilly.”

“He’s on top of his game, gives instinctive, constructive criticism and in a few short hours, had conveyed the essence of how to make a story compelling and unputdownable from the first few lines. Get on one of his courses if you can.”

*The ticket includes free entry into the evening salon at Brooks Hotel cinema room.

*If you want to pay in euros please contact me at paulmcveighwriter@live.co.uk

Click here for tickets.

Saturday, Oct 21st

Brooks Hotel

62 Drury Street, Dublin, Dublin, D02 TV06

This episode combines stories 5 and 6 – The Judge and The Comedian.

‘The Circus’ was originally broadcast on Radio 4 and is now on BBC Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle.

The readers are Maggie Cronin and Michael Condron.

You can listen here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fw87x3