The final mentor for the Paul McVeigh West Cork Residency is the incredible Robert Olen Butler.
Robert Olen Butler has published sixteen novels and six volumes of short fiction including A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, which won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Butler has also published a volume of his lectures on the creative process, From Where You Dream. In 2013 he became the seventeenth recipient of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. He also won the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He has twice won a National Magazine Award in Fiction and has received two Pushcart Prizes. He has also received both a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. His stories have appeared widely in such publications as The New Yorker, Esquire, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Zoetrope, The Paris Review, Granta, The Hudson Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, and The Sewanee Review. His works have been translated into twenty-one languages.
More information on the residency is found here and will launch Friday October 31st.
Applications are *CLOSED* for the Paul McVeigh Residency. Now in its third year, previous winners have gone on to get agents, book deals and win literary prizes.
The residency will take place near Glengariff, in its stunning forest park, West Cork, from Sunday 25th January until Sunday 1st February 2026. The opportunity is for emerging writers of fiction and non-fiction aged 21 and over living in Ireland and the UK.
What’s new this year? There are three places in total; two available in the cottage and one in the detached out building. Before applying please read the detailed description of the property below.
There is a £20 application fee which entitles ALL applicants to three professional development sessions:
An hour-long group zoom session on writing a query letter with Sam Blake and Maria McHale, Directors of Writers Ink.
An industry session by Writers and Artists Yearbook team on ‘How to Pitch Your Book’. This 30-minute session will look at ways to approach the challenge of summing up a whole book in so few words, discuss pitch research, and share examples of successful pitches that you can use as a model for your own. We’ll also discuss how pitches can differ depending on the kind of book you are writing (fiction genres, memoir and non-fiction), as well as how the pitch functions in the context of your submission package. The session will end with a brief Q&A, so come ready with your questions!
A 30 min group zoom session on reading your work live with actor Tony Flynn.
THE WINNERS
Pre Care:
The three writers will have an online session academic/author, Yvonne Battle-Felton, to discuss how to make the most of the 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.
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.
There will be a trip to Cork city to meet literary festival director, Pat Cotter, to talk about the industry and the festival circuit.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided – family style. Basic tea and coffee provided. Alcohol, food outside of meals, special food items must be covered by the individual.
AFTERCARE
1. Anna Burtt will give each writer a half-hour publishing consultancy by zoom.
2. Pervious residency winner, Patrick Holloway, will give a group zoom session on his experience as a debut novelist – getting an agent and a publishing deal.
3. All three residency winners will also receive a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and a bundle of W&A Writing Companion Guides. They’ll receive a year’s free subscription to the Writers & Artists Listings Subscription (a digital database of publishing industry contacts), which also includes access to Agent Pages – individual profiles for over 500 literary agents – to help writers personalise their approaches when submitting to literary agents.
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
Send an email to pmcveighresidency@gmail.com attaching 1000 word extract of your prose – fiction and non-fiction accepted. Include in the body of the email a short bio outlining your publication history, if any.
*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: 30 November 2025
7. Please attach proof of payment. If not available, please provide date and time of payment.
7. Judges are Cathy Galvin, Paul McVeigh and previous residency winner Hilary White.
Longlist announced Friday December 5th.
Shortlist announced Friday December 12th.
Winners announced Friday December 19th.
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 very study but steep. Secondly, the bedrooms are adjoining. 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 slight grass incline to access it.
You are out in the countryside in the middle of national park with beautiful scenery 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.
PLEASE CONSIDER THE ABOVE CAREFULLY BEFORE APPLYING. Questions to pmcveighresidency@gmail.com
Paul McVeigh 