working class literature

Free Event August 12th Belfast

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Award-winning novelist and playwright Paul McVeigh is no stranger to producing anthologies such as The 32

Following the success of Belfast Stories which he co-edited, McVeigh has delivered once again with The 32, described as an ‘intimate and illuminating collection of memoires and essays that celebrates workingclass voices from the island of Ireland’. A number of contributors from the book will participate in the Scribes event, chaired by the book’s editor Paul McVeigh.

Without these working-class voices, without the vital reflection of real lives or role models for working-class readers and writers, literature will be poorer. We will all be poorer. 

This event is hosted by Stories@theDuncairn, a volunteer-led, community literary project, in partnership with the Greater New Lodge Community Festival and Féile an Phobail. All welcome!

You can read here.


Kit de Waal and me at Listowel Writers’ Week

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“A Working Class Writer is Something to Be” June 2 at 1.30pm The Listowel Arms Hotel

We read because we want to experience lives and emotions beyond our own, to learn, to see, with others’ eyes. Join us as Kit De Waal and Paul McVeigh engage in a lively discussion of the short story writing of working-class writers across the UK and Ireland. This event will be moderated by Deirdre Walsh.

Please do join us. You can check out the rest of the programme here.

FREE EVENT – Imagine Festival: The 32 Launch & Why We Need More Diversity In Publishing

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The Launch of the 32: An Anthology of Working Class Voices – and Kit de Waal and Paul McVeigh: Why We Need More Diversity in Publishing 

The 32 Launch
Introduced by Kit de Waal and Editor Paul McVeigh with short readings from the Northern Irish contributors Riley Johnston, Dr Michael Pierse and Marc Gregg.

The 32 is the Irish version of ‘Common People’ anthology edited by Kit de Waal. It has 16 established Irish working class voices including Roddy Doyle, Kevin Barry, Lisa McInerney and Daniel McLaughlin, as well as, 16 new writers from across the island of Ireland. The anthology aims to go some way towards highlighting the lack of access working class writers have to the publishing industry.

This event will also include a free wine reception and refreshments. and is supported by The Irish Secretariat and Arts Council of Northern Ireland. 

The launch will include a conversation between two of our leading authors who have championed working class writers discuss the challenges faced by people from less affluent backgrounds in getting into print and how they can be overcome. They will discuss the lack of diversity in publishing and the importance of promoting a wider range of voices in literature.  The event will consider why the books industry still so white, middle-class and male and what steps can we take to make publishing more inclusive.

Crescent Arts Centre

Date Sunday 27 March 2022

Time 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Price – FREE

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Excellent Review of The 32

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“The 32 voices in this anthology are truly diverse, culled from all corners of our island.” 

A wonderful review of The 32 in The Irish Independent.

“The 32 is an insightful, funny and touching collection, with a range of voices and viewpoints that must be heard.”

You can read the whole interview here.

The 32 Anthology goes to UCD Festival

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The @FestivalUCD has over 100 *free* online events across science, arts, performance, wellbeing and more.

The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices

Sat 29 May at 5:00 pm – Sat 29 May at 6:00 pm 

REGISTER

Paul McVeigh is the editor of The 32 – an upcoming collection of essays and memoir, bringing together sixteen well-known writers from working class backgrounds with an equal number of new and emerging writers from all over the island of Ireland. He’ll be in conversation with two of the featured authors Lisa McInerney and Michael Nolan.

Pre-Order here in UK

RTE Radio Interview about ‘The 32’

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Interviewed on RTE Radio about The 32 Anthology

Here’s me on RTÉ One with Sean Rocks announcing that The 32: Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices extends the deadline to MAY 15 – we’re looking 16 new writers from all over the island of Ireland.
Submission Details here.

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“The Good Son is a work of genius from a splendid writer.”
Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler
“A triumph of storytelling. An absolute gem.”
Donal Ryan

The 32: Call Out in Irish Times

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“Are you a new or emerging writer from a working class background? Would you like to be published alongside an Impac Award-winner, a Booker Prize-winner, two Sunday Times Short Story Award-winners, a senator, playwrights and poets? What about a professional development programme with the help of leading publishers and the Irish Writers Centre.”

Read all about it in my article in The Irish Times.

You can apply here.

Keep Your Overheads Low

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“Q. What’s the most important lesson about money which your career in writing has taught you?
A. Keep your overheads low.”

This and other gems here…  in the Independent.ie 

Plus – come along to West Cork Literary Festival and take my novel course. You’ll also get to see amazing writers like… Roxane Gay, Cynan Jones, Eimear McBride & Paul Muldoon.

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“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