Jamie Attenberg, Cate Kennedy, Rosie Schaap and me!

The Writing Life: Friendship, Travel & Creativity Across Continents

The Crescent is delighted to welcome two best-selling international authors to Belfast: Jami Attenberg (New Orleans-based author of seven books of fiction and most recently a memoir),  and Cate Kennedy (Australian-based author of two short story collections, a novel, three poetry collections and a memoir). Cate and Jami will be in conversation with Northern Ireland-based writers Roise Schaap and Paul McVeigh, to share their work and discuss travel, writing experience and friendship.

Jami Attenberg is the New York Times best-selling author of seven books of fiction, including The Middlesteins and All This Could Be Yours. She has contributed essays to the New York Times Magazinethe Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Times, and The Guardian, among other publications. She lives in New Orleans.

Cate Kennedy is the author of two short story collections, a novel, three poetry collections and a memoir.  Her awards include the Victorian Premier’s Literary Prize for Poetry for her collection The Taste of River Water (Scribe, 2011) and the NSW People’s Choice Award for her novel The World Beneath (Scribe 2009, published Australia, the U.S.A, the U.K, France and Hong Kong). Her short story collections are both on the Australian school syllabus as study texts.  She teaches widely both in Australia and the U.S., and has just completed her PhD in Creative Writing.

Rosie Schaap is the author of Drinking with Men: A Memoir and Becoming a Sommelier. From 2011 to 2017 she was a columnist for The New York Times Magazine. Her essays appear in numerous anthologies, most recently the new edition of Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York.  She teaches creative nonfiction at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Irish Writers Centre and her next book, The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country, will be out next year. A native New Yorker, she has lived in the Glens of Antrim since 2019.

Paul McVeigh is a writer, author and performer. His novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Award and the McCrea Literary Award. He is the Editor of three anthologies, including, 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices, (Unbound), published in 2021. paulmcveighwriter.com

Date Monday 09 May 2022

Time 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Price£4

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GIVEAWAY: TWO FREE WRITING FESTIVAL PASSES

I have two festival passes for this wonderful festival for writers. Have a look at it here.

Here’s a little info –

“Across five weeks and twelve sessions, we invite you to hear from a range of inspiring speakers across the publishing and wellbeing industries. Programme highlights include a keynote by writer and activist Nikesh Shukla, sessions on writing and sustainability, joyful creativity, a publishers’ roundtable, a discussion about reading culture, a debut novelists’ roundtable, and creative writing Masterclasses with Dorothy KoomsonVaseem KhanPaul McVeigh and Monique Roffey. 

All Being A Writer Festival ticket-holders are welcome to submit their work to the TLC Pen Factor Writing Competition for the opportunity to pitch your writing to a live panel of industry judges. 2022 marks 10 years of TLC Pen Factor, and as a competition it has an impressive track record for finding talent, with many of our previous finalists going on to be published – including as a direct result of meeting their agent there! TLC Pen Factor alumni include Neema Shah, Guinevere Glasfurd, Adam Sharp, Abi Daré, Jeremy Gavins, and Lizzie Damilola Blackburn.”

If you like the sounds of it share on social media and I’ll chose on April 30th.

Good luck.

Paul x

A Writing Trip to Belgium

Two Events – Leuven and Kortrijk.

The first is ‘An evening with Irish writers Sinéad Gleeson, Mike McCormack and Paul McVeigh’

Irish college Leuven, May 5th, 8pm.

The evening is a co-organised by the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies, the EFACIS Irish Itinerary programme and ‘Druk in Leuven’ (30CC). The event is free for KU Leuven students and personnel, but please register through this link.

Tickets can also be found on the Druk in Leuven website

The second event is for students at Korkrijk campus for students only.

Hope to see some you there.

Come to my Spanish Writing Retreat

Getting your writing to the next level with Paul McVeigh

Come spend a week in Spain with me – 29 Oct – 4 Nov 2022 at the beautiful Casa Ana in the Andalucian mountains.

Here’s the blurb…

“Paul will bring his 30 years of experience as an award-winning writer, tutor, editor and competition judge to helping you raise your writing to the next level. He’ll lead group sessions each morning, dissecting texts to illustrate how to write compelling fiction, exploring techniques to better equip your writers’ toolbox, and helping you develop your writing voice. The afternoons are free for you to put new insights into practice in your writing and Paul will also offer a one-to-one session where you can discuss your writing and/or the industry. To round off the retreat there’ll be an evening where you can read your work in a supportive atmosphere, in the company of the other writers.”

Your retreat at Casa Ana

  • You’ll have the luxury of a week or two working uninterruptedly on your writing
  • Inspiring mountain surroundings, quiet corners on the terrace, Spanish sunshine
  • Your own room and writing table
  • The company of other writers, from many countries
  • Opportunities to read from your work in the supportive atmosphere of the group
  • One-to-one sessions are available with the resident mentor
  • You don’t have to cook! The Casa Ana chef prepares sumptuous meals. Full board is included in the price.
  • We make it easy for you to travel to Casa Ana with a minibus from Malaga or a taxi from Granada airport

If you’re interested please head over to the Casa Ana website…

The Good Son 3rd Editon
You can buy here

Winner of The Polari First Novel Prize

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

Raw, funny and endlessly entertaining’Jonathan Coe

Ireland: A literary Invitation

I’ve edited a new anthology for my German publisher, Verlag Wagenbach. It’s called ‘Ireland/Irland: A Literary Invitation‘ and it is an anthology of short works (and a little poetry) from all over Ireland – acting like a fictional travel guide. There’s new work from Darran Anderson, Jan Carson and Riley Johnston, with new and classic stories and book extracts from Kevin Barry, Evelyn Conlon, Rob Doyle, Liam O’Flaherty, Dave Lordan, Frank O’Connor, Eilis Ní Dhuibhne, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, and a bit from The Good Son (they are my publishers, they insisted!).

There’s been a wonderful review in the German Newspaper ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’.

Irland. Eine literarische Einladung

“…this book prepares you better for a visit to Ireland – including Northern Ireland – than most travel guides can. Because at its core it is always about attitudes on the island, about the wounds of division, the consequences of Brexit, about the effects of economic upswings and declines of recent times. It is about attachment to one’s homeland against the background of a desertification of rural areas, which one may find picturesque as a tourist. In the stories, current attitudes to life meet and create friction. Reflects the everyday life of the people – and what Ireland and Northern Ireland stand for today.” Irland. Eine literarische Einladung published by Verlag Klaus Wagenbach

Ulster Book Club reads The Good Son

I’m delighted that next up the Ulster Book Club is heading to Co. Antrim with The Good Son by meself. Crime writer Gerard Brennan will leading the discussion to discover 1980s Ardoyne in ‘this great coming of age novel’ (their words not mine lol). Wed March 30th with thanks to Irish Secretariat Belfast.

Please do join in for free.

The Good Son 3rd Editon

Winner of The Polari First Novel Prize

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

Raw, funny and endlessly entertaining’Jonathan Coe

Interviewing Armistead Maupin

Armistead Maupin is heading back out on the road and stopping off in Belfast’s Ulster Hall on 8 June 2022. And I get to interview him. Can’t tell you how much this means to me – I feel like I grew up with his characters.

‘Following a successful UK tour in 2019, the bestselling, much-loved author and LGBT activist, Armistead Maupin is bringing his brand new show to Belfast.

Maupin has been blazing a trail through US popular culture since the 1970’s, when his iconic and ground-breaking series Tales of the Citywas first published as a column in the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The novel series has been taking the literary world by storm ever since, and was recently adapted by Netflix into a critically acclaimed series, starring Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis and Elliot Page.

Don’t miss the chance to join America’s ultimate storyteller, as he recounts his favourite tales from the past four decades, offering his own engaging observations on society and the world we inhabit.’

Tickets

Understanding the Industry: PROPHETS, MAKERS AND RISK TAKERS

‘Prophets, Makers and Risk Takers: A Showcase of Writing from Northern Ireland’ is a 2-day festival that brings leading writers in Northern Ireland together, in person and online, to share their ideas and skills with emerging writers, and to promote the best of Northern Irish writing across the world.

I’ll be taking part in the Panel Discussion: Understanding the Industry at 12noon March 9th.

Check out the full programme here.

The Good Son 3rd Editon

Winner of The Polari First Novel Prize

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

Raw, funny and endlessly entertaining’Jonathan Coe

Teaching at Listowel

3 Day Workshop: Short Story with Paul McVeigh


Date and time

Thu, 2 June – Sat, 4 June 2022

09:00 – 12:30 IST

You can check out the website here and ticket link below.

‘Paul will share what first readers, editors and judges look for in a short story and discuss how to get your story published.

Paul will discuss how to get your story onto that shortlist and how to avoid the rejection pile. Paul will take you behind the scenes of anthologies, competitions and journals, explaining the psychology of the decision-making process and the importance of ‘That Killer First Page’. He will highlight the essential ingredients to create that crucial story opening. In a form and genre where every word counts, you will get tips on staying focused on your story and where to start the action; you will also get clues on when to stop. You will write an opening and get feedback on that. You will look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories.

Paul McVeigh’s short stories have been read on BBC Radio 3, 4 & 5 and performed on Sky Arts TV. They have also appeared in many publications including Faber’s ‘Being Various: New Irish Short Stories’, ‘The Art of the Glimpse’, The Irish Times, The London Magazine and The Stinging Fly. ‘Hollow’ was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2017 and he was longlisted in 2021.’

His debut novel ‘The Good Son’ won The Polari First Novel Prize and his work has been translated into seven languages. He reviews for The Irish Times and the TLS. 

Paul has edited the Southword Journal, the ‘Belfast Stories’ anthology from Doire Press (2019) and is the editor of ‘Queer Love’ and ‘The 32′, which includes new work from Roddy Doyle, Kevin Barry and Danielle McLaughlin.

He is associate director of Word Factory ‘the UK’s national organisation for excellence in the short story The Guardian and is co-founder and Director of the London Short Story Festival. Paul has judged many international literary competitions including The Dylan Thomas Prize, The Edge Hill Short Story Prize, The Sean O’Faolin Short Story Prize and currently the V. S. Pritchard Prize for the Royal Society of Literature. He is presently head of Literature for the Arts Council of NI.

This workshop has sold out in Adelaide, Armagh, Bath, Belfast, Brighton, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kuala Lumpur, Lancaster, Listowel, London, Melbourne, Salisbury, Singapore, Ubud and West Cork.’

You can listen to one of my stories on BBC Sounds for all of 2022 – ‘Daddy Christmas’