Thanks to Cathy Brown’s blog in response to Anna Burns Booker Prize win. Cathy name checks The Good Son among some wonderful books from Northern Ireland. Have a read here.
Lovely to see this praise for The Good Son from author Kerry Hudson in The Observer newspaper yesterday;
“When I think of exceptional working-class novels from the last few years, I inevitably think of Kit de Waal’s My Name Is Leon and Paul McVeigh’s The Good Son, both skilfully written books about two very different boys’ challenges growing up in working-class environments.”
She also mentions de Waal’s Common People Anthology out next year which includes my first piece of memoir. You can head over and read the whole article here.
I’ll be heading to Dublin on Friday September 26 for the launch of First Lines: Irish Author Portraits by John Minihan.
John Minihan is the legendary photographer known for his wonderful portraits of Beckett in Paris. John has been taking portraits of Irish authors which have been made into postcards with the first lines from their work on the other side. I’m honoured to part of it and to celebrate the work of Literature Ireland.
I saw John last weekend where he is the resident photographer at Cork Short Story Festival and am looking forward to seeing him again at this event.
Literature Ireland have been hugely supportive of me, helping to fund translations of my The Good Son into French, German, Hungarian and Russian. A crucial organisation for the translation and promotion of Irish writers abroad.
The other writers featured in the series are Colin Barrett, Sara Baume, Gavin Corbett, Rob Doyle, Audrey Magee, Mike McCormack, Lisa McInerney, Danielle McLaughlin, Alan McMonagle, Conor O’Callaghan and Sally Rooney.
One of the portraits by John Minihan
I was delighted to find this interview with Lucy Caldwell in The Irish Times which I’d forgotten about. I hope you enjoy it.
Lucy recently commissioned me as part of a new Faber anthology on Irish writing ‘Being Various’. I read the story for the first time at the International Conference on the Short Story in Lisbon. Look out for that next year.
I found this profile I’d missed somehow by Sue Leonard in the Irish Examiner… and her view on The Good Son.
‘Tragic yet funny; sad yet redemptive; this sometimes hilarious novel encapsulates childhood in times of violence. Mickey will steal your heart.’
Free Event!
I’ll be the Writer in Conversation filling the very large shoes of writers like Helen MacDonald and Jennifer Egan. It takes place in Southampton on Feb 19th. Know anyone in those parts? Please share.
You can check out the Facebook events page here.
Date & Time: Monday, February 19 at 7 PM – 9 PM
Venue: John Hansard Gallery, Gallery, Studio 144, 142-144 Above Bar Street, SO14
The Irish Ambassador to Malaysia is holding a special night at the Irish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in my honour on November 30th. I’m so honoured.
I will read from my novel, The Good Son, followed by a Q&A. There will be music in between and a party after.
Thanks to Cat Brogan for all her help in organising this.
Thanks to Culture Ireland and Arts Council of NI for their generous support.
I’ll be attending the George Town Literary Festival in Penang, Malaysia, 24/25/26. You can read about it The Malaysian Insight.
My first event is;
Conversations: The Monsters Within: Man versus Man
Speakers: Kosal Khiev, Paul McVeigh, Nisha Ayub
Moderator: Danton Remoto
Writing and talking about violence is painful but necessary. How do we deal with real violence and how do we deal with fictive violence? How do writers and activists resist and confront violence in themselves, their lives and their work? Here, we listen to three remarkable individuals who have overcome violence in their lives and have used the transformative forms of writing, poetry and activism to shape their stories and to help inspire others to tell their own.
Date: Saturday, 25 Nov at 11.15am–12.15
Venue: Earth, Wisma UAB
My second event is a little unusual as it’s poetry – I’ve chosen the work of 3 Northern Irish poets to read Stephanie Conn, Padraig Regan & Stephen Sexton.
Poetry Marathon
Poets: A. Samad Said, Al-Mustaqeem M. Radhi, Takako Arai, Jérôme Bouchaud, Maung Day, Jelena Dinic, Ulrike Draesner, Kosal Khiev, Gerður Kristný, Lynne Lawner, Kirsty Logan, M. Aan Mansyur, Paul McVeigh, Laksmi Pamuntjak, Rahmat Haron, James Shea, Darryl Whetter and Gündüz Vassaf
A non-stop performance by festival poets, translators and their work. A celebration of poets, poetry and the world.
Date: Saturday, 25 Nov 12.30pm–2.00pm
Venue: Earth, Wisma UAB
My third and final event is;
When Immortals Walked Among Us
Speakers: Gerður Kristný, Paul McVeigh, Arshia Sattar, Zen Cho
Moderator: Jason Erik Lundberg
There are many commonalities in the world’s mythologies and cosmologies. Greek legends, Norse and Celtic sagas, and Hindu epics all had gods and goddesses who were anthropomorphic and therefore resistant to Joseph Campbell’s argument – ‘that the secret cause of all suffering is mortality itself, which is the prime condition of life.’ Did the immortals deny humans the right to live uninterrupted, guilt-free lives? What is the notion of ‘god’ and its mythos in literature? We examine some of our most enduring myths, the power they still wield in our everyday lives and narratives, and how these stories have evolved from then until now.
Date: Sunday, November 26 at 11:15 AM – 12:15
Venue: Bangunan UAB
I hope to see some of you there.
Thanks to Culture Ireland for their support.
I’ll be reading in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Seksan Gallery on Saturday afternoon December 2nd.
Thanks to Sharon Baker for the invitation and organising.
I hope to see some of you there.
Thanks to the generous support of Culture Ireland and Arts Council of NI.
Hot on the news of selling The Good Son to Russia, the Hungarian version of The Good Son is in shops now. Called A jó fiú it is translated by Laura Lukács and the word from Literature Ireland is that she has done an excellent job.
I’d like to thank the amazing Literature Ireland who have given translation grants to the publisher which is the third time they have supported The Good Son – also French and German translations.
I love the Hungarian cover. What do you think?
You can even read an extract here.
The novel is with Typotex Publishing as part of their World Literature Series. You can buy it in shops and online now!
Paul McVeigh 