Novel Writing: First Chapters at the Virtual John Hewitt International Summer School
2020-07-27 14:30 - 2020-07-31 16:30 (Europe/Dublin) | On Zoom
As part of the 2020 John Hewitt International Summer School, Bernie McGill will facilitate 3 x Two Hour Online Workshop sessions on Novel Writing: First Chapters. The workshops will be hosted online using Zoom meeting software on the following dates.

Monday 27th July 2020, 1430hrs to 1630hrs
Wednesday 29th July 2020, 1430hrs to 1630hrs
Friday 31st July 2020, 1430hrs to 1630hrs

These workshops will look at: structuring work; writing openings with impact; creating credible characters; selecting point of view, as well as outlets for completed work. Suitable for writers who are beginning or developing a novel. Participants should prepare a 250-word synopsis of their novel in advance. Works-in-progress are welcomed. Workshop fee is £60 per person. To book go to the Novel Writing link on the John Hewitt Society page.
After booking your place the tutor will email you with the meeting link a week before the workshop begins. You will require a device capable of running Zoom Meeting Software with a functioning screen, microphone, speakers and a stable connection to the internet.
All workshop students are advised to test their Zoom connection prior to the workshop. Refunds will not be given for issues caused by your hardware, software or internet connectivity.
Online workshops are available on Getting Started with Heather Richardson, Memoir with Maureen Boyle, Poetry with Nessa O’Mahony, and The Short Story with Edward Hogan. Talks, panels and readings will take place over 3 days of the virtual summer school, from Thursday 30 July to Saturday 1 August. Keep an eye on the John Hewitt Society page for the upcoming programme of events.
Talks will be free to view online, though donations will be accepted gratefully.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels, The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House (short-listed for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and of Sleepwalkers, a collection of stories short-listed in 2014 for the Edge Hill short story prize. She has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies Her Other Language, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines.

Online Workshop: What's a short story?
2020-08-29 10:30 - 2020-08-30 15:30 | Online, United Kingdom
*Please note this workshop is now fully booked
What’s a short story?
In these online Zoom sessions, hosted by Ballyeamon Barn and led by writer Bernie McGill, we will ask what makes a good short story, and in practical and participative writing exercises, look at the ways in which we might attempt to combine those elements in our own writing.
What’s the story about? How does it begin? Where and when is it set? Who is in it? Who’s going to tell it? What happens? Why do they do that? How does it end?
Come with a place or a person or an event in mind and we’ll begin.
Maximum no. of participants: 10
Saturday 29th August 10.30am – 12 noon and 2pm – 3.30pm
Sunday 30th August 2pm – 3.30pm
(4.5 hours in total)
Facilitator Bernie McGill is the author of the short story collection Sleepwalkers, shortlisted in 2014 for the Edge Hill Prize. She has written two novels: The Butterfly Cabinet, and The Watch House which was nominated in 2019 for the Ireland/European Union Prize for Literature. She has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and in the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies Her Other Language, Belfast Stories, Female Lines, The Glass Shore and The Long Gaze Back. She is a former Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Queen’s University, Belfast. She lives in Portstewart with her family, works as a professional mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre and as a Writer in Schools for Poetry Ireland.

Online Creative Writing Workshops hosted by Burnavon Arts Centre, Cookstown*
2020-10-03 10:30 - 2020-10-10 12:00 | Online, United Kingdom
*Please note this workshop is now fully booked.
You are welcome to join these two practical online workshops led by writer Bernie McGill on the everyday craft of writing, with the aim of sparking ideas for new work.
The workshops will take place over 2 weeks: on Saturday 3rd October and on Saturday 10th October 2020, 10.30 am – 12 noon on each day. All levels of experience welcome, from experienced writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. The workshop will be fully participative with attendees taking part in writing exercises online, developing work at home and sharing their work with group participants.
Come with writing materials and be prepared to write.
£20 fee includes both dates
After booking your place the tutor will email you with the meeting link a few days before the first workshop begins.
You will require a device capable of running Zoom Meeting Software with a functioning screen, microphone, speakers and a stable connection to the internet.
* Please Note: The tutor will require your email address for the purpose of this workshop *
All workshop participants are advised to test their Zoom connection prior to the workshop. Refunds will not be given for issues caused by your hardware, software or internet connectivity.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for Ireland European Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014.
This workshop is suitable for 16yrs +
Book at Burnavon Arts Centre, or contact the Burnavon Box Office : 028 867 69949 (option 1)

Online Fiction Writing Surgery
2020-10-13 18:30 - 2020-11-17 20:30 | Online, United Kingdom
*Update
The Irish Writers Centre is offering bursaries on its courses to writers based in, or from, Northern Ireland, and to Irish language writers. Apply by 1st October. Full details on The Irish Writers Centre’s News Page.

Course Level: Emerging
Maximum no. 12
Course Summary:
Grab a seat. Pull up to the virtual table.
Would you appreciate some up-close and detailed feedback on your work? Would you be prepared to share up to 2000 words of your fiction writing with a professional writer and with a group of other writers, at a similar writing stage to you? This short course will offer participants the opportunity to have their writing read and workshopped by writer Bernie McGill, and by a peer group of emerging fiction writers.
Course Outline:
Participants should submit a maximum of 2000 words of their fiction writing (short story or novel excerpt) at least two weeks prior to the course commencing. The course will consist of 6 x two hour weekly workshops in each of which the work of two participants will be discussed. The work will be circulated to all twelve participants in advance. Participants will be provided with guidelines by the tutor and encouraged to give constructive feedback on what they have read and what they can bring from their reading to their own writing. Participants will be encouraged to complete writing exercises during and between workshops that relate primarily to the specific issues raised in the work. Suitable for writers committed to short or longer form fiction writing and who are open to giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Course Outcomes: Participants will benefit from professional and peer feedback on their own work and will be able to develop their writing based on what they have learned from the reading and discussion of others’ work.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. She was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018-2020.
Course fee: €165 (€150 for members)
To book go to the Irish Writers Centre

Creative Writing Workshop at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy
2020-10-24 10:30 - 13:30 | Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, BT45 8HT, United Kingdom
Creative Writing Workshop
Moyola Hall and Sensory Garden, Seamus Heaney HomePlace*
*Please note: this workshop will now take place online
Join facilitator Bernie McGill for a writing workshop in the Moyola Hall and Sensory Garden at HomePlace, Bellaghy, inspired by the work of Seamus Heaney. This will be a practical workshop on the everyday craft of writing with the aim of sparking ideas for new work. All levels of experience welcome from experienced writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors in the Sensory Garden to write, weather permitting, or at a social distance indoors in the Moyola Hall. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
A hard backed notebook or clipboard may be useful for writing outdoors. Dress for the weather!
*Full social distancing and safety measures are in place and workshops will have specific guidelines to allow for maximum enjoyment and participant safety. Please Note: in order to send resource material for printing at home in advance of the workshop the facilitator will require participants’ email addresses*
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for Ireland European Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her work has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018-2020.
Book online or Tel. Seamus Heaney HomePlace on 028 7938 7444.

Northern Lights: Bernie McGill in conversation with Jessica Bates, with music by Hannah McPhillimy
2020-11-19 20:00 - 21:00 | Flowerfield Arts Centre, 185 Coleraine Road, PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland, BT55 7HU, United Kingdom
The Arts Service of Causeway Coast & Glens Council presents Bernie McGill in conversation with Jessica Bates, with music by Hannah McPhillimy
This event is now available to view online at Flowerfield Arts Centre’s YouTube channel.
Join us for an evening of music and words from two acclaimed artists whose work is inspired by the distinctive land and seascapes of the Causeway Coast and Glens.
North Coast native Hannah McPhillimy’s brand of thoughtful indie-pop takes its influences from artists across the Atlantic such as Regina Spektor and Feist, but retains an unpredictable beauty that is uniquely home-grown. Described by The Irish Times as ‘a bit of a wonder’, she has supported artists such as Foy Vance, SOAK and The Gloaming. Hannah recently returned from completing her masters in classical composition at the prestigious Michigan University and touring in the U.S.
‘Quietly Captivating.’ Culture NI
‘Music both stunning and moving in equal measure.’ Chordblossom
‘McPhillimy’s vocal talents hit home time and time again.’ The Thin Air
‘A real talent.’ Ralph McLean, BBC Ulster
The landscape and people of the North Coast are firmly rooted in the writing of Bernie McGill. Her first novel, The Butterfly Cabinet, was set in Portstewart and inspired by the tragic events surrounding the Montague family in 1892. Her most recent novel, The Watch House, is set on Rathlin Island, at the time of the Marconi wireless experiments. Its themes of enforced isolation, of new technologies in communication, and of the ingenuity of people to overcome the restrictions of their environment, are distinctly appropriate for the times we find ourselves in.
‘McGill writes about life, love and telegraphy with a poet’s clarity’ The Sunday Times
‘McGill proves once again she is a masterful storyteller . . . historical fiction at its absolute best’ The Lady
Hannah and Bernie will be joined by Ulster University Senior Lecturer and Rathlin resident Jessica Bates to talk about creativity in Lockdown, the impact of location and of circumstances on creative work, and how creative responses can help us navigate troubled times.
Dr Jessica Bates is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, Ulster University where she is Course Director for the Postgraduate Diploma and MSc in Library and Information Management, both online courses. Dr Bates is also Chair of the Advisory Panel to The National Collection of Northern Ireland Publications (NIPR).

The Nerve Podcast
2021-02-24 | Online, United Kingdom
Writer Bernie McGill talks to Dr Jenny O’Connor at The Nerve podcast about what a typical day in her life is like, what it has meant to her to contribute to anthologies that highlight the work of women writers and how teaching keeps her awake at night. Listen here: https://www.wit.ie/news/humanities/podcast-the-nerve-ep-35-bernie-mcgill.
The Nerve is a podcast from the English Department of the Waterford Institute of Technology.
Bernie McGill’s novel The Watch House was nominated in 2019 for the Ireland/European Prize for Literature. Her first novel, The Butterfly Cabinet, was named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012.
Her short fiction has been nominated for several awards and in 2008, she won the Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Award in the United States. Sleepwalkers, her first collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Bernie is a former Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at the Seamus Heaney Centre in Queen’s University, Belfast and she is a mentor and workshop facilitator with the Irish Writers’ Centre.

Sowing the Seeds: Online Creative Writing Workshops with Bernie McGill
2021-03-06 10:30 - 2021-03-27 12:00 | Online, United Kingdom
Saturday 6th March 10.30am – 12 noon
Saturday 13th March 10.30am – 12 noon*
*Please note that, due to demand, a second round of workshops has been added on Saturday 20th and Saturday 27th March from 10.30am – 12 noon. The booking fee covers two workshops (taking place on two consecutive Saturdays). Book at The Burnavon Arts Centre website.
As we look ahead to Spring and to the growing of the light, participants are invited to these two practical online writing workshops, designed to ‘sow some seeds’: to inspire ideas for writing and developing new work.
All levels of experience welcome from experienced writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. The workshop will be fully participative with attendees taking part in writing exercises online, developing work at home and sharing their work with group participants. Come with writing materials and be prepared to write.
After booking your place the tutor will email you with the meeting link a few days before the workshop begins.
* Please Note: The tutor will require your email address for the purpose of this workshop *
You will require a device capable of running Zoom Meeting Software with a functioning screen, microphone, speakers and a stable connection to the internet.
All workshop participants are advised to test their Zoom connection prior to the workshop. Refunds will not be given for issues caused by your hardware, software or internet connectivity.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for Ireland European Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. She was Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Queen’s University, Belfast, from 2018-2020.
Suitable For 16yrs+
Book at The Burnavon Arts Centre website.

Online Fiction Writing Surgery with Bernie McGill
2021-04-06 10:30 - 2021-05-11 12:30 | Online, United Kingdom
Course Summary:
Would you appreciate some up-close and detailed feedback on your work? Would you be prepared to share up to 2000 words of your fiction writing with a professional writer and with a group of other writers, at a similar writing stage to you? This short course will offer participants the opportunity to have their writing read and workshopped by writer Bernie McGill, and by a peer group of emerging fiction writers.
Course Outline:
Participants should submit a maximum of 2000 words of their fiction writing (short story or novel excerpt) at least two weeks prior to the course commencing. The course will consist of 6 x two hour weekly workshops in each of which the work of two participants will be discussed. The work will be circulated to all twelve participants in advance. Participants will be provided with guidelines by the tutor and encouraged to give constructive feedback on what they have read and what they can bring from their reading to their own writing. Participants will be encouraged to complete writing exercises during and between workshops that relate primarily to the specific issues raised in the work. Suitable for writers committed to short or longer form fiction writing who have been, or are ready to, submit work for publication, who are prepared to spend time reading and critiquing others’ work, and who are open to giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Course Outcomes:
Participants will benefit from skills-based exercises and discussion and from professional and peer feedback on their own work. They will be able to develop their writing based on what they have learned from the reading and discussion of others’ work.
Book online at the Irish Writers Centre.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. She was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018-2020.

Bernie McGill, Author, Live and Interactive
2021-05-01 17:00 - 18:00 | On Zoom
Cushendun Big Arts Weekend in association with the John Hewitt Society hosts a live event via Zoom with author Bernie McGill on Saturday 1st May at 5pm BST.
Bernie is the author of two novels and one short story collection. Her novel The Watch House was nominated in 2019 for the Ireland/European Union Prize for Literature and The Butterfly Cabinet was named in 2012 by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year. Sleepwalkers was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2014.
From 2018 – 2020 Bernie was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University, Belfast. She works as a Lector with the RLF and as a mentor and facilitator with the Irish Writers’ Centre. Her new short story collection will be published in 2022.
Send questions on Bernie’s books, or on writing and publishing in advance to info@cushendunbpt.org or pop them into the Chat via the live event.
Book via this link.

Creative Writing Workshop at Seamus Heaney HomePlace
2021-07-17 10:30 - 13:30 | Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, BT45 8HT, United Kingdom
Join facilitator Bernie McGill for a writing workshop in the Moyola Hall and Sensory Garden at Seamus Heaney HomePlace. This will be a practical workshop on the everyday craft of writing with the aim of sparking ideas for new work. All levels of experience welcome from experienced writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors in the Sensory Garden to write, weather permitting, or indoors in the Moyola Hall. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
A hard backed notebook or clipboard may be useful for writing outdoors. Dress for the weather!
Limited places available. Book here.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her work has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies Her Other Language, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018-2020. Her new collection of short stories, This Train is For, will be published by No Alibis Press in 2022.

Cushendun Writing Workshop and Trail
2021-07-24 10:30 - 14:30 | Old Church Centre, Cushendun, 1 Church Lane, Cushendun, BT44 0PG, United Kingdom
Join Bernie McGill for a writing workshop with a difference, featuring a walking trail exploring the literary links in Cushendun

MAXIMUM PARTICIPANTS: 10
As part of our Causeway Creative Trails exploring culture and arts across the borough, join facilitator Bernie McGill for a writing workshop with a difference, featuring a walking trail that explores the literary links in the historic conservation village of Cushendun. The workshop will offer prompts and writing exercises to initiate ideas and will use as inspiration the work of writers with associations with the village including Louis MacNeice, Moira O’Neill and John Masefield. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors to write, weather permitting, or at a social distance indoors in the beautifully refurbished Old Church Centre. The group will come together to share work.

Dress for the weather and in comfortable walking shoes and bring writing materials.

There are a number of places in the village available for lunch, or bring a packed lunch along.

Meet at Cushendun Old Church at 10.30am.

Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her work has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies Her Other Language, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018-2020. Her new short story collection This Train is For will be published by No Alibis Press in 2022.
Book via Flowerfield Arts Centre.

Walled Garden Writing Workshop with Bernie McGill at Aspects Festival, Bangor
2021-09-25 10:00 - 13:00 | North Down Museum, Town Hall, The Castle, Bangor, BT20 4BT, United Kingdom
Join facilitator Bernie McGill for a writing workshop – indoors and out – that takes inspiration from the beautiful surroundings of Bangor Castle Walled Garden and Castle Grounds.
The workshop will offer prompts and writing exercises to spark ideas and develop work. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors to write (weather permitting) or at a social distance indoors in North Down Museum. The group will come together to share work.
All levels of experience welcome, from seasoned writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike.
Suitable for ages 16+
Dress for the weather and in comfortable walking shoes and bring a hardback notebook for writing outdoors.
Full workshop details and booking at Aspects Festival.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her new short story collection This Train is For will be published by No Alibis Press in 2022.

Eílís Ní Dhuibhne and Evelyn Conlon in conversation with Bernie McGill
Later that day, join Bernie and acclaimed short story writers Eílís Ní Dhuibhne and Evelyn Conlon at Aspects Festival 2021 to talk about their new collections, Little Red and Other Stories and Moving About the Place, both published by Blackstaff Press. This event will take place on Saturday 25th September at 4.00pm at Bangor Castle. Event details and booking at Aspects Festival.

Back in the Writing Room with Bernie McGill at Burnavon Arts Centre, Cookstown
2021-10-16 10:30 - 14:00 | Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre, Burn Road, Cookstown, BT80 8DN, United Kingdom
After months of online working, are you ready to get back into the writing room? This workshop, led by writer Bernie McGill, will offer a kickstart to your creative writing with prompts and suggestions to spark new ideas.
All levels of experience welcome, from seasoned writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. The workshop will be fully participative with attendees taking part in writing exercises and sharing their work with group participants. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
There will be a short break for lunch (bring your own).
Please bring your own notebook and pen.
Suitable for age 16+
Book online at The Burnavon.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her new short story collection This Train is For will be published by No Alibis Press in 2022.
*Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Prophets, Makers and Risk Takers: A Showcase of Writing from Northern Ireland
2022-03-09 - 2022-03-10 | Accidental Theatre, 12-13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DB, United Kingdom
‘Prophets, Makers and Risk Takers: A Showcase of Writing from Northern Ireland’ is a 2-day festival that brings leading writers in Northern Ireland together, in person and online, to share their ideas and skills with emerging writers, and to promote the best of Northern Irish writing across the world.
Curated by writer Jan Carson, this 2-day hybrid event will take place in-person at Accidental Theatre in Belfast and online. This will be the 3rd edition of Prophets, Makers and Risk Takers and we continue in our desire to be useful to writers and the literature sector in Northern Ireland through skills development, connection and promotion. We hope that the event will show the breadth of talent that Northern Ireland has to offer and will give representatives from UK and international festivals, and global networks, an opportunity to sit at the table and take note.
The Keynote Address will be delivered by Dr Caroline Magennis, and participants will include writers Myra Zepf, Maria McManus, Bernie McGill, Reggie Chamberlain King, Olivia Fitzsimons, Sue Divin, Sam Thompson, Sheena Wilkinson, Finn Kennedy, Cat Brogan, Emily DeDakis, Aislinn Clarke, James Patterson and Kerri ní Dochartaigh with representatives from the Irish Writers Centre, Extra Teeth, Storyline Literary Agency, ACNI, Tramp Press, The Tangerine Magazine, Literature Ireland, Cúirt International Festival of Literature, EFACIS, the National Centre for Writing, Cove Park and Cheltenham Literature Festival.
On Wednesday evening the Irish Secretariat will host the launch of Queering the Green by Paul Maddern; on Thursday evening The Heaney Centre will host a showcase of new prose fiction at The Great Hall, Queens University Belfast.
We have a limited number of complimentary online and in-person tickets available for anyone who feels they are unable to attend the festival due to the ticket price. To request a place please email here. They will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Book for an in-person or online ticket on one or both days here.
Timetable:
Wednesday 9 March
10.30am Welcome and Introductions
10:45am Panel Discussion: Making a Life out of Writing
12.00pm Panel Discussion: Understanding the Industry
1.30pm Workshop: Surviving as a Writer (ONLINE AUDIENCE ONLY)
Lunch and networking (IN-PERSON AUDIENCE ONLY)
3.15pm Panel Discussion: Promoting Writers in Northern Ireland Internationally
6.30pm Launch of ‘Queering the Green’ by Paul Maddern, Irish Secretariat Belfast (IN- PERSON AUDIENCE ONLY) BOOK HERE.
Thursday 10 March
9.45am Keynote Address by Dr Caroline Magennis
10.45am Panel Discussion: Prose Writing
12pm Panel Discussion: Writing for Children & Young Adults
1.45pm Panel Discussion: Off the Page Writing
3.00pm Panel Discussion: Non-Fiction Writing
4.00pm Video: Showcase of Writers in Northern Ireland
5.30pm Showcase of New Prose Fiction, The Great Hall, QUB BOOK HERE.

Creative Writing Workshop with Bernie McGill: The Growing Light
2022-04-23 10:30 - 14:00 | Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre, Burn Road, Cookstown, BT80 8DN, United Kingdom
A creative writing workshop that looks forward to the stretch in the days, the growing of the light. This workshop, led by writer Bernie McGill, will offer a kick start to your creative writing with prompts and suggestions to spark new ideas.
All levels of experience welcome, from seasoned writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. The workshop will be fully participative with attendees taking part in writing exercises and sharing their work with group participants. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
There will be a short break for lunch (please bring your own). This workshop is suitable for 16yrs +
Bernie McGill is the author of novels The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House and of the short story collection Sleepwalkers. Bernie’s new short story collection, This Train is For will be published by No Alibis Press in June 2022.
Book through the Burnavon Arts Centre.

Writing a Novel: 3 Day Workshop with Bernie McGill at Listowel Writers' Week
2022-06-02 09:00 - 2022-06-04 12:30 | Listowel Writers’ Week, The Square, Listowel, V31 V962, Ireland
In these practical workshops participants will be invited to take part in writing exercises that focus on: structuring a novel, writing openings with impact, developing setting, creating credible characters, and refining point of view. We will also look at opportunities for further developing and submitting work. Suitable for writers who are beginning or developing a novel. Participants should bring a 250-word synopsis. Works in progress are welcomed.
3 Day Workshop – Thurs/Fri/Sat, 2nd-4th June 2022, from 9am to 12:30pm
Day 1. We will hear and give feedback on a selection of the novel synopses that participants have brought and look particularly at: Structuring a Novel and Writing Openings with Impact.
Day 2. We will hear and give feedback on synopses and look particularly at: Developing Setting and Creating Credible Characters.
Day 3. We will hear and give feedback on synopses and look particularly at: Refining Point of View and Opportunities for further developing and for submitting work. We will finish with information and discussion and a Q&A on aspects of writing.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019), and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her first collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her work has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies The Black Dreams, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. Her new short story collection, This Train is For, will be published in June 2022 by No Alibis Press.
Bernie is a former Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) at Queen’s University, Belfast. She now works as a Lector and Facilitator with the RLF and is a Professional Mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre. She lives with her family in Portstewart.
‘McGill writes about life, love and telegraphy with a poet’s clarity.’ Sunday Times
‘The book is a masterclass in how to marry narrative and setting.’ David Park, Irish Times
‘McGill proves once again she is a masterful storyteller… historical fiction at its absolute best.’ The Lady
All events or shows will be filmed or photographed. Buying a ticket affirms your consent to the filming, sound recording or photographing of yourself as a member of the audience. Photography and recordings are strictly forbidden without the permission of the Listowel Writers’ Week Literary Festival Management.
Booking details for the Writing a Novel workshop with Bernie McGill here.
Full workshop programme, including Short Story (with Paul McVeigh), Creative Writing (with Catherine Dunne) Crafting Characters and Memoir (with Kit de Waal), Writing for Children (with Olivia Hope), Songwriting (with Emma Langford) , The Writing of Leonard Cohen (with John MacKenna), Poetry (with Clodagh Beresford Dunne) workshops and masterclasses here.
For Listowel Writers’ Week writing competitions click here.

Launch of This Train is For by Bernie McGill
2022-06-09 18:00 - 19:30 | No Alibis Bookshop, 83 Botanic Avenue, BELFAST, BT7 1JL, United Kingdom
No Alibis Press is delighted to invite you to a live event in No Alibis bookshop to celebrate the launch of Bernie McGill’s wonderful new collection of short stories, This Train Is For.
This launch happily coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of No Alibis Bookstore.
About Bernie McGill:
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels, The Watch House, (2017, Tinder Press), nominated for the Ireland/European Prize for Literature, and The Butterfly Cabinet, (2010, Headline Review), and one short story collection Sleepwalkers, (2013, Whittrick Press), shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Her short fiction has been nominated for numerous awards and in 2008 she won the Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Award in the USA. Her work has been anthologised in award-winning collections including The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore, Her Other Language, The Danger & the Glory, Belfast Stories, and Female Lines.
“Beneath the exquisite surface – at once lyrical and plain-spoken – of each of these stories is carried a great freight of feeling that McGill handles with humanity and restraint. An excellent collection from one of the finest short story writers working in Ireland today.” Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses.
This is a free event but numbers are limited. Please reserve a place here.

David Park & Bernie McGill in Conversation with Emma Warnock at Belfast Book Festival
2022-06-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Road, BELFAST, BT7 1NH, United Kingdom
Join two of Northern Ireland’s most acclaimed writers at this year’s Belfast Book Festival as they discuss their latest releases for Novel Journeys Book Club.
Bernie McGill’s This Train Is For is a collection of short stories; some unpublished, some stories previously published within award winning anthologies.
David Park’s Spies in Canaan is a bold and unsettling parable about guilt, atonement and redemption.
Novel Journeys Book Club is a partnership between the Belfast Book Festival, Translink and independent bookstore, No Alibis, to champion the benefits of reading and to stay connected with their passengers and the wider public. Every month, Translink announces a new title via social media to help passengers switch off, unwind and support their mental wellbeing.
Bernie McGill was born in Northern Ireland. She has written plays, a collection of short stories entitled Sleepwalkers and two novels, The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House, which was shortlisted for the Irish/European Union Prize for Literature in 2019. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for numerous awards and is anthologised in The Black Dreams, The Cormorant, Her Other Voices, Belfast Stories, Reading the Future, Female Lines, The Glass Shore and The Long Gaze Back. In 2008 she won the Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Award in the US. She is a recipient of a number of Arts Council of Northern Ireland Awards. She works as a professional mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre and as a Writer in Schools with Poetry Ireland. She is a former Writing Fellow at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University, Belfast.
David Park has written nine novels and two collections of short stories. His novel Travelling in a Strange Land won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. His other books include The Light of Amsterdam, which was shortlisted for the 2014 International IMPAC Prize and The Poets’ Wives, which was selected as Belfast’s Choice for One City One Book 2014. He has won the Authors’ Club First Novel Award, the Bass Ireland Arts Award for Literature, the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize and the American Ireland Fund Literary Award. He has received a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and has been shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year Award four times. He lives in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Emma Warnock is the Commissioning Editor at No Alibis Press, an independent publisher of fiction based in Belfast. She studied literature at Queen’s University, Belfast and has a PhD in contemporary fiction.
Book this event at Belfast Book Festival.
*Please note that this year the Book Festival is operating a ‘pay what you want’ policy on all events. £7 is the guide ticket price.
View full Belfast Book Festival 2022 programme.

Book Signing at Waterstones, Coleraine: This Train is For by Bernie McGill
2022-06-23 15:00 - 16:00 | Waterstones, Coleraine, 10 Church Street, Coleraine, BT52 1AP, United Kingdom
Join us on Thursday 23rd June at 3.00 pm when Portstewart author Bernie McGill will be signing copies of her new short story collection This Train is For.
Bernie McGill’s award-winning stories have been widely praised for their emotional depth and their lyrical language. She is a writer of profound sensitivity and observation. Her masterful deployment of linguistic precision and economy enables her to plumb the depths of human experience while neatly avoiding sentimentalism.
This new collection, her first since 2013, contains unpublished stories along with a number of previously published stories featured within award winning anthologies.
‘This Train is For portrays the complexities of the heart with sensitivity and acute psychological insight. Rendered in the most perfect prose, Bernie McGill presents lives in physical and emotional transit, uncertain of the journey’s destination, understanding that sometimes the most important moments in our lives involve travelling not forward, but to moments we thought we had left long behind.’ David Park
‘Bernie McGill is one of the most accomplished short story writers in Ireland today. These stories contain powerful truths and unsettling revelations, delivered in the gentlest voice. An absolute joy of a collection from start to finish with not a word wasted or misplaced.’ Jan Carson
‘Wonderful stories of journeys geographical and of the inner kind.’ Bernard MacLaverty
‘Bernie McGill brings her precise, lyrical, deceptively quiet style to these stories in a collection that gleams. This Train is For is the work of a decade, and it shows; each story burnished; and a book that’s a beautiful addition to No Alibis Press.’ Lucy Caldwell
‘This Train is For is a dazzling exercise in compression, and an exemplification of what the short story form can achieve.’ Neil Hegarty, Fortnight
‘Beneath the exquisite surface – at once lyrical and plain-spoken – of each of these stories is carried a great freight of feeling that McGill handles with humanity and restraint. An excellent collection from one of the finest short story writers working in Ireland today.’ Louise Kennedy
‘Derry-born Bernie McGill’s second collection of stories has been eight years in the making, and it was worth the wait. There’s a welcome wit peppering the stories… There are closing lines that satisfy while leaving enough open to keep the reader thinking. It’s a rare achievement that McGill makes look easy. Elements of the uncanny round off the surprising features of McGill’s stories. The Escapologist opens with a strange “boy with dark wet hair” in the narrator’s room, and spirals inward from there. But the best story might be the last, In the Interests of Wonder, which takes an illusionist’s visit to a school and invests it with sinister strangeness. It reminded me of Thomas Mann’s great allegory of power and credulity, Mario and the Magician, and I can offer no higher praise than that.’ John Self, Irish Times.

Space to Write, Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart
2022-06-23 19:00 - 2023-06-23 20:30 | Flowerfield Arts Centre, 185 Coleraine Road, PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland, BT55 7HU, United Kingdom
Are you a writer who’d like to meet up with other writers in the Causeway Coast & Glens area and have some time out to work in a new environment?
Space to Write is a free initiative through which we hope you will, literally, find the space and time to write. Flowerfield Arts Centre is offering writers a specific time that they can come together to network/meet and work on their writing in quieter spots in the centre – from the galleries to our reception café area to our ground floor corridor.
Writers are invited to gather, find a comfortable space in the arts centre and write quietly for an hour, after which time we will meet in the café area for a cuppa and a chat before heading home.
Please note, this isn’t a creative writing workshop. It offers space for individual writers to meet and network at a specific time each week and have some creative space. You may be a first-time or a published writer. You may be a writer working in any genre. You may like to take inspiration from the exhibitions in the galleries at Flowerfield, or to continue with a work-in-progress. There will be no exercises or prompts offered, no sharing of work or feedback given. This is quite simply an invitation to turn up and write, and to make and renew connections with like-minded individuals in an atmosphere that is social and supportive.
Space to Write resumes at Flowerfield, after a short break for essential maintenance work on the building, on Thursday 23rd June from 7-8.30pm and thereafter until the end of November.
There is no cost – we just want you to hang out and be inspired! Register by emailing info@flowerfield.org.

Reading & Book Signing at Waterstones, Foyleside: This Train is For by Bernie McGill
2022-06-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Waterstones, Foyleside, Unit 7, Foyleside Centre, Derry, BT48 6XY, United Kingdom
Join us on Friday 24th June at 7.00 pm when author Bernie McGill will be signing copies of her new short story collection This Train is For.
Bernie McGill’s award-winning stories have been widely praised for their emotional depth and their lyrical language. She is a writer of profound sensitivity and observation. Her masterful deployment of linguistic precision and economy enables her to plumb the depths of human experience while neatly avoiding sentimentalism.
This new collection, her first since 2013, contains unpublished stories along with a number of previously published stories featured within award winning anthologies.
‘This Train is For portrays the complexities of the heart with sensitivity and acute psychological insight. Rendered in the most perfect prose, Bernie McGill presents lives in physical and emotional transit, uncertain of the journey’s destination, understanding that sometimes the most important moments in our lives involve travelling not forward, but to moments we thought we had left long behind.’ David Park
‘Bernie McGill is one of the most accomplished short story writers in Ireland today. These stories contain powerful truths and unsettling revelations, delivered in the gentlest voice. An absolute joy of a collection from start to finish with not a word wasted or misplaced.’ Jan Carson
‘Wonderful stories of journeys geographical and of the inner kind.’ Bernard MacLaverty
‘Bernie McGill brings her precise, lyrical, deceptively quiet style to these stories in a collection that gleams. This Train is For is the work of a decade, and it shows; each story burnished; and a book that’s a beautiful addition to No Alibis Press.’ Lucy Caldwell
‘This Train is For is a dazzling exercise in compression, and an exemplification of what the short story form can achieve.’ Neil Hegarty, Fortnight
‘Beneath the exquisite surface – at once lyrical and plain-spoken – of each of these stories is carried a great freight of feeling that McGill handles with humanity and restraint. An excellent collection from one of the finest short story writers working in Ireland today.’ Louise Kennedy
‘Derry-born Bernie McGill’s second collection of stories has been eight years in the making, and it was worth the wait. There’s a welcome wit peppering the stories… There are closing lines that satisfy while leaving enough open to keep the reader thinking. It’s a rare achievement that McGill makes look easy. Elements of the uncanny round off the surprising features of McGill’s stories. The Escapologist opens with a strange “boy with dark wet hair” in the narrator’s room, and spirals inward from there. But the best story might be the last, In the Interests of Wonder, which takes an illusionist’s visit to a school and invests it with sinister strangeness. It reminded me of Thomas Mann’s great allegory of power and credulity, Mario and the Magician, and I can offer no higher praise than that.’ John Self, Irish Times.

Bernie McGill & Rosemary Jenkinson in Conversation at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy
2022-06-25 14:00 - 15:30 | Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, BT45 8HT, United Kingdom
In Conversation with Emma Warnock
Seamus Heaney HomePlace is delighted to welcome two of Northern Ireland’s finest writers in a celebration of the short story. Both Bernie McGill and Rosemary Jenkinson have released short story collections this year and have had their work anthologised in many collections.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her first collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies The Black Dreams, Her Other Language, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. Her new short story collection, This Train is For, will be published in June 2022 by No Alibis Press.
Rosemary Jenkinson is an award-winning playwright and short story writer. Her plays include The Bonefire, which won the Stewart Parker BBC Radio Award, Here Comes the Night and Lives in Translation and she was the 2017 Artist-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Rosemary’s short story collections include Contemporary Problems Nos. 53 & 54, Aphrodite’s Kiss and Catholic Boy which was shortlisted for the EU Prize for Literature. Her latest collection, Marching Season, was praised by The Irish Times for ‘an elegant wit, terrific characterisation and an absolute sense of her own particular Belfast’.
Join Bernie and Rosemary in conversation with Emma Warnock from No Alibis Press in what promises to be a fascinating afternoon of readings and discussion.
Book via Seamus Heaney HomePlace.

Novel Writing: Getting Started at Cairde Sligo Arts Festival
2022-07-06 10:30 - 13:00 | The Yeats Building, Hyde Bridge, Abbeyquarter North,, Sligo, F91 DVY4, Ireland
Do you have an idea for a novel but don’t know how to get started? Or have you started a novel but become stuck part of the way through? Would you like some guidance from a professional writer on how to continue or how to begin? This workshop, led by Bernie McGill will incorporate practical advice on structuring a novel, developing setting, building characters and refining point of view. Suitable for writers who are beginning or developing a novel. Early booking is advised due to limited spaces (max. 10).
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (named by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year in 2012). Her first collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her work has been published in the UK, the US and in translation in Italy and the Netherlands. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies The Black Dreams, Belfast Stories, The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines. Her new short story collection, This Train is For, is published in June 2022 by No Alibis Press.
Bernie is a former Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) at Queen’s University, Belfast. She now works as a Lector and Facilitator with the RLF and is a Professional Mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre. She lives with her family in Portstewart.
‘McGill writes about life, love and telegraphy with a poet’s clarity.’ The Sunday Times
‘The book is a masterclass in how to marry narrative and setting.’ David Park, Irish Times
‘McGill proves once again she is a masterful storyteller… historical fiction at its absolute best.’ The Lady
Book this workshop here.
Please note that Bernie McGill will take part in a short story panel discussion at the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo, along with Sheila Armstrong and Stephen Walsh, and chaired by Jan Carson, at 8pm on Wednesday 6th July 2022. Full details here.

An Arrow in Flight: A Panel Conversation on the short story at Cairde Sligo Arts Festival
2022-07-06 20:00 - 21:30 | Hawk’s Well Theatre, 2 Temple Street, Abbeyquarter North,, Sligo, F91 EDE9, Ireland
With Bernie McGill, Sheila Armstrong and Stephen Walsh, hosted by Jan Carson.
Irish author Mary Lavin once famously referred to the short story as ‘an arrow in flight’, a ‘flash of lightning lighting up the whole landscape at once’ with no need for a classical beginning, middle and end. For our panel event on the short story, Jan Carson will chat with three Irish writers who have all published collections of short stories this year.
Bernie McGill’s award-winning stories have been widely praised for their emotional depth and their lyrical language. This Train is For is her latest collection.
Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from the northwest of Ireland. How To Gut A Fish, her first collection of fiction, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022, and she is working on her debut novel.
Stephen Walsh published his debut collection of short stories late 2021. Shine/Variance has been described as Beautiful little studies of unspoken fear and longing and love, told with a sure-footed delicacy rare in a debut. – The Irish Times
Book here for this event.
Please note that Bernie McGill will facilitate a workshop on the morning of 6th July in the Yeats Building, Sligo, as part of Cairde Sligo Arts Festival. Full details for the workshop (Novel Writing: Getting Started) here.

Creative Writing Workshop: Summer Home with Bernie McGill at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy
2022-07-16 10:30 - 13:30 | Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, BT45 8HT, United Kingdom
Join writer and facilitator Bernie McGill for a writing workshop in the Moyola Hall and Sensory Garden at Seamus Heaney HomePlace. This will be a practical workshop on the everyday craft of writing with the aim of sparking ideas for new work. Prompts and exercises will take inspiration from the words ‘summer’ and ‘home’ and from Seamus Heaney’s poem of that title.
All levels of experience are welcome from experienced writers to first-timers, as well as poets and fiction writers alike. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors in the Sensory Garden (pictured here) to write, weather permitting, or indoors in the adjoining Moyola Hall. Come with writing materials, prepared to write!
A hard back notebook or clipboard may be useful for writing outdoors.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels The Watch House and The Butterfly Cabinet. Her collection of short stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her new collection of short stories, This Train is For, is published by No Alibis Press in June 2022.
Book at Seamus Heaney HomePlace.

Reading & Signing: This Train is For at The Secret Bookshelf, Carrickfergus
2022-07-18 14:00 - 15:00 | The Secret Bookshelf, 38 Scotch Quarter, Carrickfergus, BT38 7DP, United Kingdom
Set in the secret garden in The Courtyard, Carrickfergus, The Secret Bookshelf is a hidden gem of a shop. From our showroom of new and lovely books, browse our bespoke rooms: our geek-den, crime-alley, family room, and second hand store. Come up the stairs and let us, and the shop, transport you into the world of books, where we’re always happy to help with recommendations, take orders, or just chat about book-love.
Bernie McGill will read from her new short story collection This Train is For at The Secret Bookshelf on Monday 18th July at 2pm.
This new collection, her first since 2013, contains unpublished stories along with a number of previously published stories featured within award winning anthologies.
‘This Train is For portrays the complexities of the heart with sensitivity and acute psychological insight. Rendered in the most perfect prose, Bernie McGill presents lives in physical and emotional transit, uncertain of the journey’s destination, understanding that sometimes the most important moments in our lives involve travelling not forward, but to moments we thought we had left long behind.’ David Park
‘Bernie McGill is one of the most accomplished short story writers in Ireland today. These stories contain powerful truths and unsettling revelations, delivered in the gentlest voice. An absolute joy of a collection from start to finish with not a word wasted or misplaced.’ Jan Carson
‘Wonderful stories of journeys geographical and of the inner kind.’ Bernard MacLaverty
‘Bernie McGill brings her precise, lyrical, deceptively quiet style to these stories in a collection that gleams. This Train is For is the work of a decade, and it shows; each story burnished; and a book that’s a beautiful addition to No Alibis Press.’ Lucy Caldwell
‘This Train is For is a dazzling exercise in compression, and an exemplification of what the short story form can achieve.’ Neil Hegarty

‘Beneath the exquisite surface – at once lyrical and plain-spoken – of each of these stories is carried a great freight of feeling that McGill handles with humanity and restraint. An excellent collection from one of the finest short story writers working in Ireland today.’ Louise Kennedy
‘Derry-born Bernie McGill’s second collection of stories has been eight years in the making, and it was worth the wait. There’s a welcome wit peppering the stories… closing lines that satisfy while leaving enough open to keep the reader thinking. It’s a rare achievement that McGill makes look easy. But the best story might be the last, In the Interests of Wonder, which takes an illusionist’s visit to a school and invests it with sinister strangeness. It reminded me of Thomas Mann’s great allegory of power and credulity, Mario and the Magician, and I can offer no higher praise than that.’
John Self, Irish Times.

Novel Writing - First Chapters with Bernie McGill at the John Hewitt International Summer School
2022-07-25 14:45 - 2022-07-28 16:45 | Market Place Theatre, Armagh, Market Street, Armagh, Armagh, BT61 7BW, United Kingdom
In this practical and participative course on novel writing you will focus on structuring work; writing openings with impact; creating credible characters and selecting point of view, as well as opportunities for further developing and submitting work. Suitable for writers who are beginning or developing a novel.
Participants should prepare a 250-word synopsis of their novel in advance.
Workshops will take place at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh during the John Hewitt International Summer School on Monday 25th, Tuesday 26th and Thursday 28th July from 2.45 pm – 4.45 pm.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels, The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House (short-listed for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and two short story collections, Sleepwalkers, and This Train is For, published by No Alibis Press, June 2022.
Book for this series of workshops here.
Bernie will be in conversation with Wendy Erskine and Paul McVeigh at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh on Wednesday 27th July at 1.30pm. Full details here.
You can view the full programme for the John Hewitt International Summer School, from 25th – 30th July 2022, including all workshops, talks and evening events here.

Celebrating the Short Story with Wendy Erskine & Bernie McGill
2022-07-27 13:30 - 14:30 | Market Place Theatre, Armagh, Market Street, Armagh, Armagh, BT61 7BW, United Kingdom
Celebrating the Short Story with Wendy Erskine & Bernie McGill in conversation with Paul McVeigh.
Wendy Erskine’s first collection, Sweet Home (2018), was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize and won the 2020 Butler Literary Award. In her new collection, Dance Move, we meet characters who are looking to wrest control of their lives, only to find themselves defined by moments in their past. In these stories – as in real life – the funny, the tender and the devastating go hand in hand
“Truly magnificent. These stories buzz with life and verve and humour… reminds us how glorious the short story can be.” Danielle McLaughlin.
Bernie McGill’s latest collection of short stories This Train is For, was published by No Alibis Press in June 2022. She has written two novels, The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House, shortlisted for the 2019 Irish/European Union Prize for Literature. Her first collection of stories, Sleepwalkers was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and her short fiction has been widely anthologised in a number of publications including the award-winning The Glass Shore and The Long Gaze Back.
“Wonderful stories of journeys geographical and of the inner kind.” Bernard MacLaverty
Paul McVeigh is the acclaimed author of The Good Son and Co-Founder of the London Short Story Festival.
This event is part of the programme of the John Hewitt International Summer School at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh from 25th – 30th July 2022. The full programme of workshops, talks and evening events is available to view here.
Bernie McGill will be taking the Novel Writing – First Chapters workshops on Monday 25th, Tuesday 26th and Thursday 28th July from 2.45 pm – 4.45 pm. Full details here.

Sand, fire, glass, sea: a creative writing and glassmaking workshop at Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart
2022-08-13 10:30 - 14:30 | Flowerfield Arts Centre, 185 Coleraine Road, PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland, BT55 7HU, United Kingdom
Led by Author Bernie McGill and Glass Artist Andrea Spencer of Benefield Spencer Glass, this half-day workshop will take inspiration from the landscape of the north coast. Following introductions and a short writing exercise, participants will alternate in two groups between a creative writing session and a glassmaking session, during which time there will be a break for lunch (please bring your own packed lunch). At the end of the creative writing and glassmaking workshops, you will have created a piece of creative writing and flameworked glass, ending the session with a sharing of work. No previous experience is necessary.
Andrea Spencer maintains a studio in rural Ballintoy on the North Antrim Coast. Her work is inspired by nature, drawing on natural forms and structures to create pieces which correlate with aspects of the human condition.
Bernie McGill’s most recent short story collection, This Train is For, was published in June 2022 by No Alibis Press. Her novel The Watch House was nominated in 2019 for the Ireland/European Union Prize for Literature.
