I’m over-the-moon that ‘I Hear You’ has sold out its initial print run. This is particularly great as short stories famously don’t sell well. So, thanks to everyone who bought a copy!
It looks the same with the addition of some new quotes from BBC Radio 4, Bookmunch, RTE, and The Irish Times.
You can pick up your copy here.
“I think that’s why a short story can be a good place to start when setting out to write prose. You can experiment with voices, characters, points of view, and so on. If the story isn’t working, you can abandon it and move to another idea. Starting by writing short stories is not to suggest that a short story is merely a stepping stone to writing novels. The short story is a glorious form in its own right, and mastering it can take many years.”
You can read the article here.
Please come along on World Book Day, Tuesday 6th March, Armagh City Library, at 7.30pm.
Joining me will be Tony Flynn from TV’s ‘Blue Lights’ who will read one of my stories.
For free tickets p=lease email: armagh.library@librariesni.org.uk
‘I Hear You’ will be published on March 3rd and you can pre-order here.
Event by The Secret Bookshelf
Friday, 28th March, 6.30pm
Join award-winning novelist Paul McVeigh in conversation about his new book, ‘I Hear You’ – booking is not required but please indicate if you are coming
The stories in this collection were all written especially for BBC Radio 4, including a ten-part sequence: ‘The Circus’, set in North Belfast. Other stories include ‘Tickles’, a story about a man visiting his mother in a nursing home, ‘Cuckoo’, about a man who feels something sinister has happened to him during surgery; and ‘Daddy Christmas’, where a gay man writes a letter to the son he never had. ‘These moving short stories are brave, honest, raw and funny, doing what fiction does best, showing us the lives of others and in so doing showing us ourselves. Wonderful.’ —Kit de Waal
Paul McVeigh’s 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, and RTE Radio 1, as well as, on 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. Paul co-edited the Belfast Stories anthology, edited Queer Love and The 32: Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices. Paul co-founded the London Short Story Festival and was an associate director of Word Factory, Paul’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The McCrea Literary Award and The Polari First Novel Prize and was shortlisted for many others including the Prix du Roman Cezam.
Pre-order of ‘I Hear You’ now available at the legendary No Alibis Bookstore, Belfast. A wee exclusive pre-order gift will be announced soon. Be the first in line.
Irish Times: Books to Look Out for in 2025
‘These moving short stories are brave, honest, raw and funny, doing what fiction does best, showing us the lives of others and in so doing showing us ourselves. Wonderful.’ —Kit de Waal
‘From a son paring the bunions on his mother’s feet to a man’s soul getting sealed out of his body, and culminating in a deft interlinked cycle, the stories of I Hear You are warm, frank and unsentimental, bursting with character and idiosyncratic detail, written with Paul McVeigh’s characteristic geniality and Belfast wit.’ —Lucy Caldwell
This collection of stories, written especially for BBC Radio 4, includes a ten-part sequence: ‘The Circus’, set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in North Belfast. It’s five minutes from the nationalist Troubles flashpoint of Ardoyne, where Paul grew up. It’s close to Holy Cross Girls’ School, where protests targeting primary school children drew international attention.
The Circus is situated in the poorest part of the Belfast – it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. The Circus explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity.
But this is 2024 and a fresh energy exists.
Other stories include ‘Tickles’, a story about a man visiting his mother in a dementia ward where he finds he is the one who had forgotten important things.
‘Cuckoo’, about a man’s collapse and surgery – where he feels something more sinister has happened to him; and ‘Daddy Christmas’, where a gay man writes a letter to the son he never had.
Wow! The Irish Times has done an amazing job with ‘Daddy Christmas’ my Christmas Day short story commissioned by Michael Shannon for BBC Radio Ulster which aired nationally in BBC Radio 4. This is its first time in print thanks to Martin Doyle and Nadine O’Regan at The Irish Times and look at these beautiful illustrations/artworks by Anne O’Hara.
‘Daddy Christmas’ will appear in my collection of radio stories ‘I Hear You’ from Salt Publishing March 2025.
You can read the story here and you can see more about ‘I Hear You’ here.
“We are delighted to announce Paul McVeigh’s debut short story collection, I Hear You, will be published in March 2025.
This collection of Belfast stories, each written for BBC Radio 4, includes the ten-part sequence: ‘The Circus’, set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in the north of the city.
The Circus is five minutes from the nationalist Troubles flashpoint of Ardoyne, where Paul grew up. It’s close to Holy Cross Girls’ School, where protests targeting primary school children drew international attention. The Circus is situated in the poorest part of the Belfast – it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. The Circus explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity. But this is 2024 and a fresh energy exists.
Other stories include ‘Tickles’, a story about a man visiting his mother in a dementia ward where he finds he is the one who had forgotten important things; ‘Cuckoo’, about a man’s collapse and surgery – where he feels something more sinister has happened to him; and ‘Daddy Christmas’, where a gay man writes a letter to the son he never had.
Paul McVeigh said: “I’ve been working with BBC Radio 4 for the last ten years and it’s been a wonderful experience. I’ve learned so much about telling stories written to be heard. It’s also great to be back working with Salt again.”
Christopher Hamilton-Emery said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Paul again, this time on a stunning collection of radio-performed stories. With its humour, pathos and personal tragedies, Paul manages to find the emotional heart of each immersive drama, and puts us in the centre of modern Belfast with all of its contemporary complexity and painful legacies.”
My 10 part short story series, ‘The Circus’, which aired on BBC Radio 4 this year and again on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle, has made the BBC’s top 10 recommendations. Lots of great stuff here to listen to… listen.
A BBC Christmas Collection: 30 Festive Dramas and Stories
My short story ‘Daddy Christmas’ commissioned by Micheal Shannon at BBC Radio Ulster and which aired UK wide on Radio 4 on Christmas Dady 2022, has been included in this incredible collection.
A sparkling seasonal anthology of BBC dramas and readings
Christmas is the perfect time to curl up with a good story, and this cracking collection brings you 30 wonderfully diverse tales inspired by this most special of seasons. From Santa Claus, gift-giving and family gatherings, to an unexpected encounter in a snowstorm and an alternative take on the Nativity, they’re sure to get you in the festive mood.
Here are modern readings of classics such as Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Tree’, Anton Chekhov’s ‘At Christmas Time’, Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Fir Tree’, O Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’, Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘Christmas Storms and Sunshine’ and Leo Tolstoy’s ‘Papa Panov’s Special Christmas’. Alongside them is some superb short fiction by contemporary authors, including Stella Duffy (‘South’), Paul McVeigh (‘Daddy Christmas’), Laura Barnett (‘Survivors’), and nine delightful stories by Alexander McCall Smith. Among the stellar narrators are Don Gilet, Nina Sosanya, Hannah Gordon, Stephanie Cole and Meera Syal.
Interspersed with these are a range of spellbinding plays, including Rachel Joyce’s poignant Christmas by the Lake; festive action comedy Lena Marsh, Live and Schticking! by Jeremy Front; a very unusual and very dangerous Santa in The Morpeth Carol by Timothy X Atack; and Robert Hudson and Marie Phillips’ epistolary animal tale, Some Hay in a Manger, introduced by Stephen Fry. All feature star casts including Niamh Cusack, Robert Lindsay, Sam Troughton, Clare Corbett, Tamsin Greig and Joel Fry.
Heartwarming and heartfelt, comic and bittersweet, moving and magical, these fantastic, evocative stories are a real Christmas treat.”
Buy here.
The fifth and final episode of my series of short stories, ‘The Circus’, is on BBC Sounds. Originally, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, in January, it has been repeated on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle.
‘The Gymnast’ and ‘The Organiser’ are read by Louise Parker and Ian Beattie.
You can now catch the whole series on BBC Sounds here.
Paul McVeigh 