The Quarter Hour Summer
I was commissioned by the Northern Ireland office in Brussels to write a three minute story for their Summer Postcard Series. There’s many other great stories from N Ireland’s finest writers.
You can watch me reading it by clicking here.
On Saturday I chaired a very special event for Belfast Book Festival with Colm Toibin and Mary Dorcey about the Queer Love anthology – it was such a warm conversation about the growing up LGBT in Ireland.
This Saturday coming, June 19th, I’m doing my first event in the USA for Carlow University (sadly online) with Mary Dorcey again. This time however I’m a guest writer and will be reading from my work.
The third event is with Jamie O’Connell who has also has a story in Queer Love. We’ll be talking about that and our novels.
Do come along – the two upcoming are free!
Carlow University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program presents “A Reading with Mary Dorcey and Paul McVeigh” – Saturday June 19th at 8pm Irish/UK time. Free to all just register here.
Follow in the footsteps of AS Byatt, Anne Enright, Neil Gaiman, Sarah Hall, Tobias Wolff and many more, and read at the world famous Word Factory. But a ticket and see if your name gets pulled out of the hat.
All money raised will go directly into supporting our free mentoring award, the Word Factory Apprentice Award.
I’m excited to be heading to Qatar soon for JLF Doha. Here are my events at the Qatar National Library.
In a world fraught with conflict, eminent writers speak of how they make sense of the disturbances and dystopias around us. Prayaag Akbar’s award-winning novel Leila, adapted into a popular Netflix series, addresses the ongoing conflicts in society. Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, The Good Son, tells the story of the Irish Troubles in turbulent Belfast. Writer and academic Ahmed Dallal has examined the conflicts of the Middle East.
The brevity of short fiction, illuminating transformative moments in life, eliminating all that is unnecessary, takes it to the heart of the reader. A session which investigates and celebrates the form and function of the short story. Conversations and contextual readings featuring Alex Shaw, author of the popular Aidan Snow SAS series, Kaltam Jabor M. Al-kuwari, the first Qatari women to author a collection of short stories, and Paul McVeigh, author of The Good Son and director and co-founder of London Short Story Festival, Paul McVeigh.
I hope to see some of you in Doha!
I’ll be returning to Ardoyne Library during Book Week NI. This library was where I would hide from the streets of Ardoyne – the bullies and The Troubles. It’s where I indulged my love for books, as we had none in our house, and I don’t know what I would have done without it! Come along if you can.
News Flash: Book one of Word Factory’s Summer events (here: https://bit.ly/2Wjzjc9) and email your booking info to cathy@thewordfactory.tv and they’ll give you a place at our FULLY BOOKED Irish Embassy event in June featuring Eimear McBride, Kit de Waal, Lucy Caldwell and Paul McVeigh. More info about the event here: https://bit.ly/2GHtZbv
Hurry – this offer is limited to 20 tickets!
WORD FACTORY PRESENTS:
A fantastic opportunity to share an evening with some of the finest Irish writers of our time.
What distinguishes nationality? Lucy Caldwell addresses this key question as editor of Being Various, New Irish Short Stories(Faber). Her vivid anthology explores a multi-cultural country at a transitional point in history, depicting lives and a sense of belonging in Ireland and also relevant to us all.
Word Factory is delighted to celebrate the anthology at a wine reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador Adrian O’Neill and Cathy Galvin at the Irish Embassy in London on Thursday 27th June 6pm-9pm.
Please note: though the event is free, it is vital to book your place in advance so that your name can be added to our special guest list.
I’ll reading/performing a short story, commissioned especially for this incredible project, at the Barbican, London on Feb 23rd.
It will be part of the Postcards From the Future event – ’50 years from now what will the UK look like? Four respected wordsmiths Paul McVeigh, Dreda Say Mitchell, Tony Mason and A. L. Kennedy write and perform a monologue sending us a postcard from 2069.’
Here’s some more about the project…
“Free and open to all, the day will showcase works from Sky Arts’ Art 50 which invited artists of all kinds, from all walks of life, from all artistic genres, to create a piece of work which says something important about national identity in 2019. Come celebrate the diversity and creativity of a nation through dance, music, photography and film. Highlights of the performances, shows and activities throughout the day will be the chance to see brand new work from contemporary dance group Boy Blue and Ivor Novello award winner, Nitin Sawhney with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain – all for free.”
I’ll be talking to literary guests including Bailey’s and Encore Prize-winner Lisa McInerney, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year winner Gavin Corbett and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne who received the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature and a Hennessy Hall of Fame Award for Lifetime Achievement. Join us at the beautiful, boutique, Brooks Hotel situated in the fashionable heart of Dublin city for a one-off special evening of readings and discussion. Brooks are offering a special pre-salon deal – two tapas plus a glass of house wine at €18.50 per person.
Featuring Lisa McInerney who’s work has featured in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, Granta, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4 and various anthologies. Her story ‘Navigation’ was longlisted for the 2017 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Her debut novel The Glorious Heresies won the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize. Her second novel, The Blood Miracles, won the 2018 RSL Encore Award.
Gavin Corbett is from Dublin. He is the author of three novels: Innocence, This Is the Way, and Green Glowing Skull. He is a winner of the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and teaches across the creative writing programmes at UCD.
N Dhuibhne is an Irish novelist, short story writer and playwright in both Irish and English. Eilis has won many awards for her work, including the Stewart Parker Award for Drama, Bisto ‘Book of the Year’ Award, several Oireachtas awards for play and novels, and a shortlisting for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Her most recent books are Selected Stories (Dalkey Archive Press 2017), and a memoir, Twelve Thousand Days (Blackstaff Press, 2018). She received the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2015, and a Hennessy Hall of Fame Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2016.
Hosted by Paul McVeigh who’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrea Literary Award. His short stories have been in The Stinging Fly and The London Magazine, read on BBC Radio, and performed on Sky Arts TV. ‘Hollow’ was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2017. He is the co-founder of the London Short Story Festival and his writing has been translated into seven languages.
Brooks Hotel, 62 Drury St, Dublin 2. October 12th 7-9pm.
Paul will be teaching his ‘That Killer First Page’ class at the same venue the next day, Saturday 13th.
I’ll be visiting Australia soon teaching classes in Adelaide (more soon) and Melbourne where I’ll also be part of an Irish whiskey tasting night. You’ll learn all about Irish whiskies and it should be a lot of fun! Come along.
“Belfast-born, Paul is a world-renowned storyteller. His brilliant debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize, The McCrea Literary Award and is shortlisted for the Prix de Roman Cezam.
Paul has had works performed in London’s West End and on BBC radio. And is a founder of the London Short Story Festival.
Between Paul’s tales, Martin from Dublin’s Teeling Distillery will share colourful stories around the history and traditions of Irish whiskey, while you taste five award-winning Teeling whiskies.”
Location: 217 High Street, Northcote, 3070 Victoria, Australia
Date: Thursday 16th November 6.30-8.30pm
My trip to Australia is made possible by the generous support of…
The Good Son 