16th International Conference On The Short Story In English

I’m attending the 16th International Conference On The Short Story In English in Calabria, Italy, 24-27 June 2020. This will be my third conference (following Vienna and Lisbon) and this time around I’m honored to be asked to teach a class. The details are below.

That Killer First Page

Paul will share what editors, first readers and judges look for in a short story. He will discuss how to get your story published, onto that shortlist and how to avoid the rejection pile. Paul will take you behind the scenes of anthologies, competitions and journals, explaining the psychology of the decision-making process and the importance of ‘That Killer First Page’. He will highlight the essential ingredients to create that crucial story opening. In a form and genre where every word counts, you will get tips on staying focused on your story and where to start the action; you will also get clues on when to stop. For the workshop, you write an opening and get feedback on that. We will look at submission opportunities; how to find them and where you should be sending your stories.

PaulMcVeigh short story

How To Get Published – Belfast

How To Get Published – Belfast in association w/ Writers & Artists and the Open University

8th June 2019 – 9:30am to 4:00pm

Overview

We’re pleased to be partnering with The Open University to bring a day of advice on the writing and publishing process. This full-day conference, held in the heart of Belfast, includes talks on various aspects of the writing journey from best-selling authors, a networking lunch and an informative interactive panel discussion with leading literary agents.

If you’re an aspiring writer with a manuscript and ready to submit, or simply at the beginning of your writing journey, don’t miss out on what promises to be a day essential to helping you work towards producing a publishable manuscript.

Schedule

09.30-10.00: Registration and welcome teas and coffees

10.00-11.00: How to build a narrative with Paul McVeigh

11.00-11.20: Comfort break

11.20-12.20: Researching the story with Garrett Carr 

12.20-13.30: Lunch break (lunch included)

13.30-14.30: Creating your protagonist with Geraldine Quigley

14.30-14.50: Comfort break

14.50-16.00: How to submit your work to agents and independent presses: practical tips from literary agent Nicola Barr and editor Patsy Horton

16.00-17.00: Reception

Free Writing Workshop in Cork

Fear of the First Chapter

This a free workshop at Cork World Book Festival so grab your tickets quick…

Cork Central Library 3pm.

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“Paul McVeigh and Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin will discuss how to write a captivating first chapter that will get you noticed!

Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrea Literary Award and was shortlisted for many others including the Authors Club Best First Novel Award and the Prix du Roman Cezam. He was shortlisted for Irish Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2017. His stories will appear in 2019, in Kit de Waal’s Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers, Faber’s Being Various: New Irish Short Stories, on BBC Radio 4 and Sky Arts TV. He is associate director of Word Factory and he co-founded the London Short Story Festival. He writes for The Irish Times and his work has been translated into seven languages.

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin is the founder of the award winning writing resources site, Writing.ie, and of The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy. She is Ireland’s leading literary scout and conceived and developed the National Emerging Writer Programme for Dublin City of Literature. She is the Chair of Irish PEN and the Irish and Eurozone Adviser to the international Alliance of Independent Authors. Writing crime as Sam Blake, the first of her trilogy Little Bones was published in 2016 and hit the bestseller list, spending 8 weeks in the Top 10 with 4 weeks at No. 1. In Deep Water, her second book, came out in 2017 and her third book, No Turning Back, hit the bestseller list in May 2018.”