Workshop

International Short Story Conference

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I’m attending the 17th International Conference of the Short Story in English. I’ve been invited to this bi-annual conference in Lisbon, Singapore and Vienna. This year I’ll be alongside luminous guests such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler and ZZ Packer.

Tuesday 17 June, 2025, 14:00-17:00

Paul McVeigh – The Art of the Powerful Short Story Narrative

Bring your notebooks with your fragments, your unfinished stories, and ideas that just wouldn’t launch, this workshop will talk you through a method of making them work. Using examples from his work Paul will show you how he has used his method to create powerful narratives then you can try it on your broken stories. You’ll get feedback and input into your ideas. Because he is also a playwright and has written thirteen short stories for BBC Radio 4, Paul will also show you how to write that story for radio. Be prepared to work and learn a lot. 

Thursday, June 19, Session V: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM

V.A (MOD SUITE 4): Moderator: Kimberly Gentles. 

Writers: 

Paul McVeigh 

Éilís Ni Dhuibhne 

Judith Nika Pfeifer 

Showcasing Publications and How to Make it Work.

Saturday, June 21, 2025 – 1:30 – 3:30 pm

Writers discuss the pros and cons, ways and means of putting your publications before the public. They will showcase specific works, including their own as examples. Robin Hemley will serve as Chair, with Madeleine D’Arcy as Co-Chair. The participants are Robin Hemley, Katie Singer, Evelyn Conlon, Madeleine D’Arcy, Emma Hislop, Rebekah Clarkson, Paul McVeigh, and Robert Olen Butler.  

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.

Workshop at Belfast Book Festival

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Reading Your Work Aloud

Date Wednesday 11 June 2025

Time 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Price£35 | £30

Reading Your Work Aloud With Paul McVeigh

For prose writers of all levels, this workshop with award-winning author Paul McVeigh will help you to read your work aloud with confidence. 

From breathing to bodily awareness, from pacing your work to using the microphone, you’ll receive support and feedback in a friendly environment. 

The workshop is split into two parts: you’ll learn techniques for reading aloud – then practice performing on-stage. 

Please bring a writing excerpt (ideally your own work) no more than three-minutes long. With Paul’s guidance, you’ll learn how to handle nerves, deliver a great story and connect with your audience.

Paul McVeigh’s short stories have been publlished in numerous anthologies, journals and newspapers, and read on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5, RTÉ Radio and Sky Arts. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023. He co-founded the London Short Story Festival and was Associate Director of The Word Factory. Paul has edited three short story anthologies and guest edited Southword Journal. Paul has judged numerous international literary prizes and was acting Head of Literature for Arts Council NI. Paul’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The McCrea Literary Award and the Polari First Book Prize and his writing has been translated into eight languages.

Writing For Radio: Belfast Book Festival

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Pathways To Publication: Panel Discussions For Writers 

Date Thursday 05 June 2025

Time 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Price £40 | £35 – for whole day – check out the rest of the events.

My event is this industry day is…

3.15 – 4.00pm > Writing for radio 

How does writing for radio differ from writing for the page, stage or screen? Discover how to write and pitch audio at this informative session with RTÉ radio producer and book editor Clíodhna Ní Anluain, BBC audio producer Michael Shannon and Belfast writer Paul McVeigh, author of I Hear You, a dazzling collection of stories written especially for BBC Radio 4. 

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

Teaching 2 Day Workshop at Listowel

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2 Day Workshop: How to Get Noticed with Paul McVeigh

About this event

How to get your work noticed

You’ll find out what competition judges, anthology and journal editors and publishers look for in a short story and how to avoid the rejection pile. You’ll learn how every word counts, get tips on staying focused on your story and where to start the action. You’ll also look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your work.

Paul had edited a journal, three anthologies and judges many international prizes as well as won some himself.

  • Paul McVeigh is an adjudicator for The Kerry Group Novel of The Year 2024.

Please be aware that all events at Listowel Writers’ Week will be recorded and photographed for promotional and archival purposes. Your presence constitutes consent to be filmed and photographed. Thank you.

Listowel Writer’s Week: where readers celebrate, and writers find their flow

Listowel Writer’s Week is Ireland’s oldest literary festival, and one of its most prestigious. Famously hospitable, the beautiful North Kerry town of Listowel is internationally renowned as a wellspring of literary inspiration and heritage. The 2024 Listowel Writer’s Week festival programme, exploring the theme Mother Nature, has been curated by the poet Martin Dyar.

Book here.

More about Paul McVeigh

Paul’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize, The McCrea Literary Award and was shortlisted for many others including the Prix de roman Cezam. His short stories have appeared in The Art of the Glimpse, Being Various: New Irish Short Stories, The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly as well as, on RTE Radio, BBC Radio, and Sky Arts. He edited the Queer Love anthology and The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices. His writing has been translated into seven languages.In 2023, his play, Big Man, won an Irish Times Theatre Award and his ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4.Paul co-founded the London Short Story Festival and is associate director of Word Factory ‘the UK’s national organisation for excellence in the short story’ The Guardian. He has judged the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s V. S. Pritchard Short Story Prize, Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition and The Interantional Dylan Thomas Prize among many.

Teaching at John Hewitt Summer School

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Write Short Stories that Stand Out at The John Hewitt Society, Monday 24th, Tuesday 25th and Thursday 27th July.

One of my few teaching gigs this year. Snap it up quick.

“In this course you will find out what competition judges and anthology & journal editors
look for in a short story. You will get tips on where to start the action and how to grab the reader’s attention, as well as opportunities for submission, how to 昀椀nd them and where you should be sending your stories.”

Book here.

Click to access JHSS_2023_WEB_01.pdf

That Killer First Page at Birmingham Lit Fest

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That Killer First Page – with Paul McVeigh

8th October, 10am-12noon, The Exchange.

“Short stories are where a lot of writers start, and short story competitions are enormously valuable to an emerging writer.

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 staying focused on your story and where to start the action.

You’ll also look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories.

Paul McVeigh is co-founder of London Short Story Festival and Associate Director at Word Factory. He’s been a reader and judge for national and international literary competitions and prizes. He had also edited four anthologies and reviews for the Irish Times and the TLS.”

Book here.

You can still listen to my short story ‘Dady Christmas’ on BBC Radio 4 here.

The Good Son 3rd Editon
You can buy here

Winner of The Polari First Novel Prize

‘A triumph of storytelling. An absolute gem.’ Donal Ryan

‘Raw, funny and endlessly entertaining’. Jonathan Coe