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Kirsty Logan Joins Paul McVeigh Residency

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The Residency is lucky to have the wonderful Kirsty Logan join as one of the mentors. I met Kirsty at a wonderful event on the short story for BBC Radio 3 (alongside George Saunders) and we met again recently at Cork International Short Story Festival.

Kirsty Logan’s latest books are the story collection No & Other Love Stories and the memoir The Unfamiliar: A Queer Motherhood Memoir. She is also the author of three novels, three story collections, two chapbooks, a 10-hour audio play for Audible, several collaborative projects with musicians and visual artists, and around 300 short stories. Her books have won the Lambda, Polari, Saboteur, Scott and Gavin Wallace awards. Her work has been optioned for TV, developed for film, adapted for stage, recorded for radio and podcasts, exhibited in galleries and distributed from a vintage Wurlitzer cigarette machine. She is currently collaborating on several projects across film, TV, collaborative chapbooks, and performance.

More information on the residency is coming soon with a little more found here.

Louis de Bernières Joins Paul McVeigh West Cork Residency

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Louis de Bernières was selected as one of Granta’s 20 Best of Young British Novelists. His historical novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best book, has been translated into 11 languages and was made into a Hollywood movie. He has written two short story collections, Notwithstanding (2009), and Labels (2019). His book Red Dog was adapted as a film of the same name in Australia in 2011. He has also written four poetry collections.

The three winners of the residency will have an hour session with him answering all there questions on craft. More information on the residency is coming soon with a little more found here.

Louis de Bernieres in Edinburgh 2010. Picture by Ivon Bartholomew 2010.

Martina Devlin First Paul McVeigh Residency Mentor

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Delighted to announce that Dr Martina Devlin is the first mentor on the 2026 Paul McVeigh Residency.

Dr Martina Devlin is an author and newspaper columnist. She has written nine novels, two non-fiction books and a collection of short stories. Her latest novel, Charlotte is about Charlotte Brontë. Others include The House Where It Happened about a 1711 witchcraft trial which led to a plaque commemorating those wrongly convicted, following a campaign she initiated.

She has had two plays performed: Call Me Madame about Countess Marcievicz and Curves of Emotion about Nora Barnacle’s influence on James Joyce. Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award.

Martina writes a weekly current affairs column for the Irish Independent, for which she has been named National Newspapers of Ireland commentator of the year, among other journalism prizes. She has programmed many current affairs and literary events. She holds a PhD in literary practice from Trinity College Dublin, and has lectured there and elsewhere on Irish literature.

More information on the residency is coming soon with a little more found here.

The Paul McVeigh West Cork Residency 2027

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This residency will take place near Glengariff, West Cork, from Monday 25th January 2027 until Saturday 30th January 2027. The opportunity is for emerging writers of fiction and non-fiction aged 21 and over living in Ireland and the UK. 

There are three places in West Cork (two available in the cottage and one in the detached out building).

*Before applying please read the detailed description of the property in West Cork below* 

ALL APPLICANTS

There is a £20 fee which entitles all applicants to three professional development sessions.

  1. A 40 min zoom on resilience with Kit de Waal and Paul McVeigh. 
  2. Writers’ and Artists’ session on ROUTES TO PUBLICATION. In this session James Rennoldson and Finn Brown, members of the team behind http://www.writersandartists.co.uk, will discuss the different routes to publication, spanning self-publishing, indie publishing and traditional publishing. 
  3. A 30 min zoom on reading your work live with actor Tony Flynn. 

All applicants will also get 30% discount on a copy of Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook.

THE RESIDENCY WINNERS

Pre Care:

The three writers will have an online session author, Sarah Butler, to discuss how to make the most of the residency. 

Travel to and from Residency:

Standard class travel provided.

WELCOME:

Anna Burtt and Paul McVeigh will greet the three winners to settle them into their accommodation and answer any questions. There will be a welcome dinner and drinks. 

 ON RESIDENCY:

During the residency the winners will get one-hour group zoom sessions with Claire Adam, Wendy Erskine, Lisa Harding and Danielle McLaughlin.

The winners will be taken on a trip to the beautiful harbour town of Bantry to visit Bantry Bookshop where they will get one-on-one reading recommendations, receive €50 book tokens to spend in-shop and a special gift from the shop.

FOOD: Breakfast and lunch is provided family style. On the first night dinner will be provided for you, the other nights the winners will cook for each other.

Meal ingredients, basic coffee/tea/milk provided.

*Alcohol, food outside of meals, special food items must be covered by the individual*

AFTERCARE:

1.   Author Ferdia Lennon will talk to the winners about his experience with finding an agent, a publisher and sending how his debut novel became a phenomenon.

2.  Anna Burtt will give each writer a half-hour publishing consultancy by zoom. 

 3. All three residency winners will also receive a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook.

4. The winners will get membership for Writing.ie – a platform for the writing community filled with advice and resources.

Entry Eligibility & How to apply

1. Apply attaching a 1000 word extract of your prose – fiction and non-fiction accepted – a short bio outlining your publication history, and proof of payment.

*We are not looking for poetry at this time, thank you.

2. You must be available on the full dates of the residency – no changes possible.

3. Applicants must be 21 or over at time of residency.

4. Please put in your subject heading UK, or Ireland (if on the island of Ireland). 

5. You can have had some short works published but not a solo book. (Poetry pamphlet/collections and self-published excepted)

6. Deadline: 30th September 2026. Shortlist announced October 30th. Winners announced November 30th.

7. Judges are Paul McVeigh and three previous residency winners Patrick Holloway, Teneya Steed and Hilary A. White.

8. Anyone currently resident in Ireland/UK can apply regardless of nationality. Anyone from Ireland/UK living abroad can apply but they are responsible for their own travel to/from Ireland/UK from where we will cover travel to the residency.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The two bedrooms in the cottage are in its converted attic. Three important things to consider; firstly, the short staircase to the attic is very sturdy but steep. Bring socks and/or slippers with good grip. 

Secondly, the bedrooms are adjoining so be aware if you have privacy concerns.

Thirdly, there is only one toilet/shower for you both to share and it is downstairs.

If the stairs are off-putting, the ground floor has a daybed that extends into a double. The out building is single floored but there is a grass incline to access it. 

You are in the countryside in the middle of national park with beautiful scenery, outdoor swimming and walks. The nearest village is Glengariff, a 10-15 min drive, and not walkable. I will be staying nearby and will have a car for excursions etc.

Refunds cannot be given. Please be sure before applying.

Apply Here

Red Line Book Festival

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Join award-winning author Paul McVeigh as he discusses his new short story collection, I Hear You, with journalist and critic Niamh Donnelly.

Paul McVeigh’s short stories have been in anthologies, journals and newspapers, and read on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5, RTE Radio, as well as Sky ARTS. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Radio 4. He co-founded London Short Story Festival and has edited three anthologies. His collection of stories written for radio, I Hear You, was published in March 2025. His debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Book Prize and The McCrae Literary Award and his writing has been translated into eight languages.

Niamh Donnelly  is a journalist, critic, and writer from Dublin. A regular contributor to The Irish Times, she covers books, arts, and a wide range of other topics.  Her work can also be found in Business Plus Magazine, The Irish Independent, New York Magazine, The Financial Times, The Business Post, The Sunday Times, and many other publications. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, Banshee, and elsewhere. She has been shortlisted for five Irish Journalism Awards.

DateMonday October 13th
Time7pm 
AdmissionFree, booking required 
VenueLucan Library

Free but booking required here.

Cork International Short Story Festival

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So happy to be returning to this festival. Hope to see some of you there. Tickets here.

Peter Bradshaw & Paul McVeigh

9.00pm, Cork Arts Theatre | €5

Peter BradshawPeter Bradshaw is an author and critic who has been chief film critic for The Guardian since 1999 and is also contributing editor of Esquire UK. His most recent publication is The Body In the Mobile Library and Other Stories and in addition he has written three novels and an edited selection of his Guardian reviews entitled The Films That Made Me. He also writes for radio and television and is currently co-writing a drama-thriller for Channel Four TV entitled I Am Not Alice Bell. He lives in London with his wife and son.

Buy The Body in the Mobile Library (Lightning Books).

“Bradshaw relishes the grotesque and improbable; his set-ups are outrageously inventive … Characters are sympathetically drawn and their longings, insecurities, vanities and weaknesses feel all too credible.” — Emma Beddington

Paul McVeighPaul McVeigh‘s short stories have been in numerous anthologies including Being Various, The Art of the Glimpse and Common People. They have also appeared in The London Magazine, The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, on BBC Radio 3, 4, 5, RTÉ Radio 1, and Sky ARTS. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023 and was repeated on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle. His debut collection of radio stories, I Hear You, was published by Salt in March 2025. Paul co-founded the London Short Story Festival and was associate director of Word Factory, described by The Guardian as ‘the UK’s national organisation for excellence in the short story.’

Visit the author’s website.

“This is a world of escape artists and fraudsters, of body swaps and comedy cuckoos, of misfits and trespassers of every ilk … where else would you want to be than amongst the outliers, where the tender, the vulnerable and the brave reside?” — Bernie McGill

(Moderator) Patrick Holloway’s debut novel, The Language of Remembering, is published by Epoque Press (2025). He is the winner of the Bath Short Story Award, The Allingham Fiction Prize, The Flash 500 Prize and The Molly Keane Creative Writing Prize. He is an editor of the literary journal The Four Faced Liar.