short story

Irish Times Review of ‘I Hear you’

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Thank you to novelist Neil Hegarty, for this lovely review of, I Hear You, in the Irish Times.

“My mind found an old shoebox full of memories, and as I opened it, the moths of the past flew out”: in The Singer, one of the short stories in Paul McVeigh’s vivid and memorable new collection, we meet a nameless female protagonist as she sifts through the stuff of her life. The scene is an ordinary family home in north Belfast – but as each of these stories reminds us, there is no such thing as an ordinary family or home. Rather, each family, home, life is invariably extraordinary, in myriad ways – and all we need do to see this is to pay attention.

The Singer is a story of sibling rivalry, envy, tension – and to add further to such pleasures, this is also a complex retelling of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The protagonist’s sister (and indeed, her name is Jane) has always been the favourite one, the talented one, the one who triumphed at the local talent competition three years running – though also the one who even as a child liked to take nips from the bottle of cooking brandy in the kitchen cupboard. The other sister has gone off and earned a degree, has been good, has carved out a sensible place in the world – has been thoroughly eclipsed: but now she teeters on the edge of something remarkable, of a longed-for switch in life; and to add to her satisfaction, Jane has taken to calling from London, looking for money. There is sleekness in the telling, there is satisfaction in the glimpse of a happy ending – and best of all, this happy ending will not be for everyone.

The Singer is one element in The Circus, a sequence of linked stories that shows us a multifaceted society, and provides a much-needed corrective to the version of north Belfast glimpsed from time to time in the television news. Each story was originally written for radio, and this genesis explains the collection’s depth of colour and vividness of voice. And its variety: Paul McVeigh’s writing has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to working-class and queer representation, and this sustained energy flows through this collection, to illuminating effect – for this is a world of change, of openness, of the drunkenness of things being various.“

Read here.

Buy here.

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

I Hear You: RTE Arena Interview

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I Hear You – Paul McVeigh

CLIP • 15 MINS • 03 MAR • ARENA

Writer Paul McVeigh on his new collection of short stories, I Hear You. 

“It’s been 10 years since Paul McVeigh’s debut novel The Good Sonhit bookshelves, its funny, touching tale of misfit schoolboy Mickey Donnelly’s determination to escape Troubles-plagued Ardoyne earning the author The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrea Literary Award.

Since then he has edited a trio of short story and written a hit play, Big Man, which won an Irish Times Theatre Award when it was staged at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre in 2022. Now he returns to print with I Hear You a collection of short stories which were originally commissioned and broadcast by BBC Radio Four – he talks to RTÉ Arena above.

The collection includes a series of ten interlinked stories called The Circus which introduce a colourful selection of characters from the north Belfast streets, whose varied lives intersect thanks to a local talent competition. Their stories are told with McVeigh’s trademark warmth, wit and humour.”

I talked to RTE Arena about my debut collection of stories ‘I Hear You’

You can listen here.

Buy I Hear You.

Short Story v The Novel in Bookanista

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“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.

You can buy ‘I Hear you’ here.

The Story of ‘Tickles’ in Writing.ie

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“The stories in I Hear You were all written for BBC Radio 4. I thought I’d breakdown the journey of one of those stories from its conception to its afterlife.  

Tickles was the second short story I’d written, and my first for radio. I was commissioned by BBC Radio Ulster producer, Heather Larmour, and it aired on BBC Radio 4. Although this was the only time we worked together, Heather met with me many times and, over many conversations, mid-wived me through writing for radio, teaching me so much about the medium.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Grab your copy of ‘I Hear You’.

London Launch of I Hear You at Word Factory

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Tickets are selling fast for the London launch if ‘I Hear You’ at The Word Factory on March 21st. This will be a wonderful chance to celebrate with friends, old and new, and I’ll be back to my short story home. It has been too long. Thrilled that the brilliant Kit de Waal will be reading and leading a literary conversation with me. 


The launch is at the beautiful Georgian venue, Bloomsbury’s Music Room. Hope to see you there and details – including how to pre-order a copy of the book – here.

*PLEASE NOTE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE NIGHT BY CASH ONLY*

Event at The Secret Bookshelf, Carrickfergus

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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.

Teaching Course at Look North Festival

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Workshop: On the Short-Story with Paul McVeigh

Sat 1 Mar 2025 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Girdwood, 10 Girdwood Avenue, Belfast, Antrim BT14 6EG

Tickets: Here

Paul has written short stories to be read out on the radio, the stage and television, as well as, in print, for anthologies, literary journals, magazines and newspapers. He will share his knowledge on writing stories for all these platforms and give practical helpful advice of how to approach them, in terms of how you write and what you do with your story once it’s finished. The workshop is a mix of advice from Paul’s professional experience and the tips he was given by editors, producers and publishers.

Paul’s short stories have been in anthologies, journals and newspapers, and read on BBC and RTE Radio,as well as, Sky ARTS. His ten-part story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4. He co-founded London Short Story Festival and edited three anthologies. His collection, I hear You, is out March 2025.

Out March 3rd 2025

28 Feb, Belfast Launch of I Hear You

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Launch: Book Launch of Paul McVeigh’s, I Hear You

Fri 28 Feb 2025 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Clifton House Belfast, BT15 1ES

Come join us for the Belfast-launch of the award-winning Belfast author Paul McVeigh’s BBC-commissioned short story collection. I Hear You is made up of 10 linked stories, plus an additional three – all of which were commissioned by, and read out on, BBC Radio 4, plus BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle.

Get your free tickets here.

Out March 3rd 2025