short stories

Milton Keynes Lit Fest Workshop

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Look Again:
The surprises of inner and outer landscapes
A masterclass with Paul McVeigh and Cathy Galvin

Wednesday 2 July 2025; Zoom
7.00pm – 8.30pm; £15/£12

​​​Whatever their form, all stories take place somewhere. Join Belfast-born fiction writer Paul McVeigh and Coventry-born poet Cathy Galvin as they invite you to disrupt your usual writing practice and find a space to look again, and more deeply, at the all-too-familiar landscape of home. 

Whatever your chosen literary form – but with a particular focus on the short story –  this relaxed 90 minute session is aimed at helping you discover the still points and the surprising in the everyday.  Exploring their own work and that of other writers who have inspired them, they will help you consider what lies beneath and within the landscapes we think we know. 

Colleagues in the short story organisation, the Word Factory, Paul and Cathy both write across many forms and enjoy working with other writers: you can expect insight, banter, some suggested reading in advance (not essential) and some writing prompts and recommended reading to follow up in your own time.​

BOOK HERE.

Bradford Literary Festival

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Me with Fiona Keating, Paul Burston, Jason Okundaye & VG LEE. LITERARY SALON

“We’re delighted to welcome back Polari, the multi award-winning LGBTQ+ literary salon, for another unforgettable evening in Bradford.  

Founded and hosted by author and activist Paul Burston, Polari is known for its high-energy, cabaret-style atmosphere and showcases the very best in established and emerging LGBTQ+ literary talent. 

Expect thought-provoking readings, captivating performances, and a celebration of queer voices that’s anything but your average literary event. Uplifting, entertaining, and always inspiring, Polari is a literary salon with heart, flair, and a whole lot of soul. 

Saturday, 5 July 2025 | 18:00 – 19:30

Wallers Brewery, Sunbridge Wells, BD1 1SX More Info

Tickets.

Writing Belfast: Stories Of A Changing City 

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Belfast Book Festival

Date Tuesday 10 June 2025

Time 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Price: Pay What You Decide – Recommended Price £12.50

Written with Paul McVeigh’s characteristic flair and Belfast wit, I Hear You (Salt, 2025) is a vibrant collection of short stories from the award-winning author of The Good Son. 

Specially written for BBC Radio 4, the stories include a ten-part sequence set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in North Belfast and the old clashes with the new on diversity, social class, acceptance and change. 

Paul will discuss his home city, Belfast, and how it has changed through his work; from Troubles era Ardoyne of The Good Son, post-lockdown north of the city in I Hear You and where its modern diversity can clash with the lingering past in his play Big Man. During the evening Actor Tony Flynn will also give readings from Paul’s work.  

Join Paul in conversation with writer Cathy Galvin, founder of the short story organisation The Word Factory and The Sunday Times Short Story Award. 

Tickets here.

‘I Hear You’ Review in Bookmunch

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“Paul McVeigh has the rare gift of making optimism seem reasonable and an even greater gift for portraying characters who find value in their own lives and in their commitment to each other.”

A wonderful review of ‘I Hear You’ over at Bookmunch. Getting reviews is always nerve-wrecking and such a relief and then joyful when it’s a review like this.

“McVeigh has an enviable ability to create an immediately recognisable character from a quick glance and drawing out the relationships of disparate characters from the common situations that has shaped them. While each individual story can seem like a sketch, there is an overarching plot as the events of the talent competition unravel some relationships and force others into the open. Linking the stories further, there is the common theme: the ability to create one’s own family out of friendship when their own families let them down. No-one will close I Hear You without the life-affirming feeling that there are possibilities in every life.”

You can read there whole review here.

Buy here

Short Forms in the Global Literary Marketplace Symposium

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I’m honoured to be attending the Short Forms in the Global Literary Marketplace Symposium on April 7.

The event is at the Queen Mary University of London, Mile Ed Campus, 2.45 – 4.05.

Panel 4 – The literary marketplace (chair: Rehana Ahmed) 

I’ll be joining…

  • Sana Goyal, editor and publishing director of Wasafiri 
  • Kristen Vida Alfaro, publisher and director of Tilted Axis Press 
  • Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, chair of the Caine Prize for African Writing and editor-at-large at Canongate Books

Talking Radio Stories at Cork World Book Festival

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Can’t wait to return to Cork World Book Festival.

Spoken Stories: Navigating the imaginative breadth of what it means to be alive today. Nuala O’Connor, Paul McVeigh and Colm Ó Ceallacháin, in conversation with Cliodna Ní Anluain.

Spoken Stories is a themed-led trilogy of 36 original stories. Commissioned from some of the most dynamic contemporary writers associated with Ireland and the short story, they navigate the imaginative breadth of what it is to be alive in the world in our time. Tonight’s gathering of tales will be told by Nuala O’Connor, Paul McVeigh and Cork’s own Colm Ó Ceallachain, ably hosted by the brilliant RTÉ culture and arts producer and editor Clíodhna Ní Anluain.

Review of ‘I Hear You’

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“..in this collection, voice is of paramount importance. Each story is told from the point of view of a different character and they vary in age, sex and sexuality, from schoolgirls to drag queens, cleaners to abused wives and even a character peaking in English as their second language. McVeigh differentiates his characters with ease and skill, using language, style and structure to make each voice individual, distinctive and ultimately believable.”

Thanks to Cathy Brown for this lovely review of ‘I Hear You’ and The Good Son gets a great mention too.

I Hear You by Paul McVeigh #readingirelandmonth25