The British Council

London Book Fair

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I’ll be appearing at the London Book Fair Wednesday, March 13th at the invitation of The British Council. I’m excited by the topic of the conversation and to talk to some Indonesian writers after my trip there to The George Town Literature Festival in 2018. Here are the details.

Taboo
Laksmi Pamuntjak, Norman Erikson Pasaribu and Paul McVeigh; chaired by Phillip Kim
16.00-17.00, Cross Cultural Hub, Olympia

Indonesian writing today is becoming more bold, more inventive, and more determined to say the unsayable. How, through literary experiments, style and themes, are Indonesia’s writers tackling taboos and redefining norms? Laksmi Pamuntjak, author of The Question of Red – which counters the official government history of 1965; Norman Erikson Pasaribu, whose poems shine light on queer Indonesian life in the midst of erasure and oppression today; alongside Paul McVeigh whose writing touches on the complex layers of political oppression, violence and sexuality; discuss their personal reasons for writing on their chosen subjects, and the need to explore, and unsettle, the dominant narratives.

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Interview in Greek Newspaper

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Μια Passionate About Writing συνέντευξη με τον Paul McVeigh

There’s an interview with me in a Greek newspaper ‘Athens Voice’ ahead of my International Creative Writing Summer School in Athens in June.

If you can read Greek I’d love to know how it sounds.

Here’s the course…

Flash Fiction with Paul McVeigh
4–8 June 2018

  • Designed for aspiring and accomplished writers alike who want to enhance their skills for writing flash fiction and short fiction
  • Participants will explore and discuss flash fiction and micro literature from a variety of authors and consider their sources of inspiration, and will also have the opportunity to experiment with voice and style
  • Workshops will centre on exercises, constructive feedback, experimentation and discussion in a supportive and friendly atmosphere
Cork World Book Festival

Buy Here

Winner of The Polari Prize & The McCrea Literary Award
“I devoured it in a day, but I’ve thought about it for many, many more. ”
Bailey’s Prize-winner Lisa McInerney
“A triumph of storytelling. An absolute gem.”
Donal Ryan

Join Me in Athens for Flash Fiction Course

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Athens – Flash Fiction with Paul McVeigh  4–8 June 2018

  • Designed for aspiring and accomplished writers alike who want to enhance their skills for writing flash fiction and short fiction
  • Participants will explore and discuss flash fiction and micro literature from a variety of authors and consider their sources of inspiration, and will also have the opportunity to experiment with voice and style
  • Workshops will centre on exercises, constructive feedback, experimentation and discussion in a supportive and friendly atmosphere

In partnership with the Kingston Writing School and Kingston University & The British Council is pleased to announce the courses that comprise our sixth annual International Creative Writing Summer School in Athens and Thessaloniki.

international-creative-writing-summer-school-passionate-about-writing

The Summer School provides opportunities for writers from across the world to develop their critical and analytical skills, enhance their writing abilities, and work intensely in an inspiring and creative workshop environment with experienced writers associated with the Kingston Writing School, Kingston University, London. Among the writers and professors who have taught at the Summer School in the past are: Ed Docx, Ahren Warner, Ann Fischer Wirth, Norma Clarke, Rachel Cusk, Adam Baron, Aimee Parkinson, KJ Orr and Maurice Walsh.

This year, the Summer School offers students the opportunity to enhance their writing skills through writing fiction, flash fiction and/or poetry, and to extend their knowledge of publishing, editing and writing for the web under the supervision and guidance of highly accomplished writers and academics.

Students can choose from seven one-week courses in Athens and a one-week course in Thessaloniki. Workshops in each course will be scheduled from Monday to Friday between 18.30 and 21.00, with extra-curricular activities such as readings and tutorials taking place throughout the week.

Courses will be held in English and are suitable for writers at all levels. See here for dates and course details.

25–27 JAN 2018, #BRITLITBERLIN

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Writing Gender – Sexuality, Feminism and Masculinity

#BRITLITBERLIN, 25 – 27 JANUARY 2018

Registration is now open for the 33rd British Council Literature Seminar. Professor Bernardine Evaristo MBE will chair the seminar which this year will focus will be on gender diversity in contemporary UK writing.

Authors include: Juno Dawson, Kerry Hudson, Sabrina Mahfouz, Nick Makoha , Monique Roffey and me!

I hope to see some of you there.

More info…

#BritLitBerlin 2018 – in Bernardine Evaristo’s words…

“The 2018 seminar will be an exploration of some of the ways in which British writers are exploring gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century. We will look at the current conversations around gender identity that have been gaining ground in the mainstream recently, including the challenge to the social construction of gender binaries. As the spectrum and categories of transgender identities and LGBTQ+ sexualities continue to revolutionise how we define ourselves as humans, we will examine how this is being played out in literature. At the same time feminism has recently enjoyed a rebirth and gone mainstream. The post-feminist era is over and young women, in particular, are taking ownership of Fourth Wave Feminism, a shift as individualised as each proponent. We will ask how this is being addressed by writers of fiction and poetry, whose work appears to subscribe to a range of feminist ideas or ideals. We will ask how we can create literature that is complex and nuanced, while also being consciously political. As notions of masculinity and femininity are called into question, subverted, rejected and expanded, we will examine the decisions we make that informs our literature in this regard. Who and what do we write about? What fictional characters do we create, and why? What are the self-imposed limits that determine whether or how we write across gender and sexuality. And what are our responsibilities as writers when addressing these issues. Finally, what are the expectations imposed upon us by the reading public and the publishing industry to write from a perspective that correlates to our (cis) gender? (Bernardine Evaristo)”

Teaching in Kuala Lumpur Dec 2/3

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I will teaching at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur on December 2nd and 3rd. If you are town it would be wonderful if you could come or if you know any writers in KL please let them know. (I’ll also be doing some events… more on that later.)

Thanks to Sharon Baker for organising it, and Grey Yeoh and British Council Malaysia for their generous support. Thanks also to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Culture Ireland for helping my travel around the region.

PaulMcVeigh short story

The class on December 2 ‘Short Sharp Shock’ is for 15-19 year olds. On December I teach my ‘That Killer First Page’ workshop that has already sold out in Bali and Mebourne so grab your tickets quick. Here’s more on that class…

That Killer First Page

“Northern Irish author Paul McVeigh leads this fiction workshop aimed at writers who are writing short fiction and looking to improve their craft.

You’ll find out what competition judges and journal editors look for in a short story and how to avoid the rejection pile. In a form where every word counts, get tips on where to start your story and how to keep the reader glued to the page. You’ll also look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories.
Focus:
How to get the attention of competition judges and editors
Writing fiction with emotional impact
Writing that killer first page
How to edit your story
Where to send your work
Reviews for Paul’s writing:
“A work of genius.” Pulitzer Prize-winning short story writer Robert Olen Butler.
“A wildly impotent new talent.” Laura van den Berg.
“One of Ireland’s most exciting and talented writers.” BBC Radio 4”

Date and Time

Sun, December 3, 2017

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Malaysia

Venue

British Council Malaysia

Ground Floor, Jalan Ampang, Malaysia

West Block Wisma Selangor Dredging 142C, Jalan Ampang

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50450

Malaysia

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Lovely Review of The Good Son

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Over on The British Council literature blog the staff are talking about their book pics this month. Matt Beavers, Literature Programme Manager had this to say about The Good Son –

“I’ve been reading The Good Son, Paul McVeigh’s debut novel which won the Polari First Book Prize in 2016. It is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 1980s Belfast. Mickey Donnelly is about to head to secondary school. He got into the local grammar but his parents can’t afford it so he is counting down the days until his first day at St Gabriel’s, which he’s dreading. The book is a fantastic and moving journey into the mind of a young boy who knows he is different and is trying to make sense of himself and the difficult world around him. Through Mickey’s first person narration, we gain a vivid insight into the atmosphere of Troubles and their impact on everyday family and community life. The book is nonetheless hopeful and extremely funny. I look forward to reading more from Paul in future.”

Nice way to start the week.

The Good Son 3rd Editon

Winner of The Polari Prize
“Both dancing and disquieting, complex and vivid, I devoured it in a day, but I’ve thought about it for many, many more.” Lisa McInerney
“It’s a triumph of storytelling, an absolute gem.” Donal Ryan
“Funny, raw and endlessly entertaining.” Johnathan Coe

Translated into Turkish

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I’m  very excited that a short fiction of mine “Dig” has been translated in Turkish by Cihan Akkartal for Altzine – a Turkish literary magazine. To read click onto the site – the first box is for your email, the second is the capthca, so just fill in what you see and you can download it.

I went to Turkey earlier this year with The British Council as part of the Authors Meet programme. I visited Izmir and Istanbul and met the magazine’s editor Su Basbugu while there. I hope you enjoy the story and read the rest of the magazine.

altZine Yaz 2016

This flash fiction Dig first appeared, in English, in Unbraiding the short story – an anthology of the authors attending The 13th International Conference on the Short Story which I attended in Vienna, in 2014. This translation was commissioned by MF Opowiadania – Int. Short Story Festival where I read in Wroclaw, in 2015.

Unbraidng Cover

Trip to Turkey with The British Council

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I’ve been invited to Turkey in February to represent the UK in the field of short stories. Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Mexico thanks to the British Council. I read at events, went on TV and radio and met Mexican authors like Monica Lavin (we did an interview for The Irish Times).

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Monica Lavin

 

I also wrote an article for The British Council’s Voices blog “Is it better to be a short story writer or a novelist?”.

I’m a big lover of the short story and set up a blog a few years ago sharing articles, interviews and submission opportunities. I joined the wonderful Word Factory which has become the UK’s leading short story salon and am now the Associate Director. I went on to be the co-founder of the London Short Story Festival with Spread the Word in 2014.

Me, Deb Levy, SJ Naude, Marina Warner, Cathy Galvin

Me, Deborah Levy, SJ Naude, Marina Warner and Cathy Galvin at London Short Story Festival

 

I love meeting other writers and working with authors from different countries. I’ve always wanted to go the Istanbul too – I hope I get to visit there on my trip. A great piece of news to start the year. Hope yours is starting well too!

My Q&A with bestselling Mexican author Monica Lavin in The Irish Times

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I met Monica Lavin on a trip to Mexico recently with The British Council. A huge star over there she is also a beautiful person. It was a pleasure to do this Q&A with her.

Q&A with bestselling Mexican author Monica Lavin about turtle dung, short stories versus novels, memory and migration

(Here’s just a little snippet…. head over to The Irish Times to read more.)

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Why the love for short story writing?

Because I read wonderful stories as a teenager: Chekhov, Bradbury, Hemingway, Cortazar, Borges, Rulfo. Latin American writers’ books were fresh, the writers were alive. That gave another dimension to what I had read before. When I was a child I thought all writers were dead people. Maybe that is one of the reasons I could not picture myself as one, even though I had been writing stories since I was 13 years old. I did not how to become a writer.

Does your writing have anything to do with your scientific background?

I think science and writing have to do with the desire to know. Science deals with objective truth, literature with relative truth. El Quijote taught us that. The short story aesthetic has more to do with mathematical equations – they have to be balanced: nothing extra, nothing missing. I love the silence of the short story.

Why did you started writing novels?

I always felt there was a question behind each short story – what if…? Now I know it is more than that, and what I thought would be a short story commanded several questions. I was dealing with multidimensional characters, several situations. I was in the grounds of the novel, and I plunged in. Now I write both. Short story writing is a way of thinking, so I always write them. I love the risk of both.

Don’t forget to check out the rest…. here.