Reading at Edge Hill University
2025-02-19 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/Dublin) | The Arts Centre, Edge Hill University, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4QP, United Kingdom
The Arts Centre at Edge Hill University, Ormskirk welcomes Northern Irish short story writer and novelist, Bernie McGill for a reading from her collection, This Train is For, winning collection of the Edge Hill Prize in 2023.
Bernie will be joined by writers from Edge Hill’s Fiction Writers’ Network who will be reading new work-in-progress.
All are welcome for this celebration of stories and storytelling.
Admission £5; free to Edge Hill University students
To book, visit The Arts Centre’s event page

Writing Workshop with Bernie McGill at Dromore Book Festival
2025-05-05 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Dromore Book Festival, c/o Bridge Books, 3 Bridge Street, Dromore, Co. Down, BT25 1AN, United Kingdom
Have you always wanted to write but didn’t know where to start? Or have you been writing for a while and find yourself in need of a little creative workout? This workshop aims to flex your writing muscles through exercises, prompts and suggestions that will help to get you started, strengthen your writing practice or develop your work in a new direction.
All levels of experience welcomed, from seasoned writers to first-timers, poets, memoirists and fiction writers alike. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
Suitable for 16yrs +
Bernie McGill is the 2023 winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection This Train is For (published by No Alibis Press). She is the author of two novels: The Watch House and The Butterfly Cabinet and of one previous short story collection, Sleepwalkers which is due to be republished in 2025. Her work has appeared in a number of award-winning anthologies and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Bernie works as a Mentor for the Irish Writers’ Centre and is a Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund.
Cost: £20. To book visit Bridge Books on Ticket Source.
The first Dromore Book Festival is hosted by Bridge Books Dromore and features a stellar line-up of events including Crime Queens Liz Nugent, Sharon Dempsey and Hannah King; an evening with Donal Ryan; Brian McGilloway in conversation with Stuart Neville; Brian Rowan with Mike Philpott; Claire Allen with Emma Heatherington and much more.
Full programme and booking details here.

Writing Workshop with Bernie McGill at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy*
2025-06-28 10:30 - 13:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, BT45 8HT, United Kingdom
*This workshop is now sold out.
Join Edge Hill Prize-winning writer Bernie McGill for a workshop in the Moyola Hall and Sensory Garden at Seamus Heaney HomePlace. This will be a practical workshop on the craft of writing with the aim of sparking ideas for new work. Prompts and exercises will take inspiration from the words, sights, sounds and smells of the garden and surrounds.
All levels of experience are 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, weather permitting, or indoors in the Moyola Hall. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
10.30 am – 1.30 pm
Booking opens on 23rd April at 10am at this link.

The John Hewitt International Summer School 2025
2025-07-28 - 2025-08-02 | Market Place Theatre, Armagh, Market Street, Armagh, Armagh, BT61 7BW, United Kingdom
The much-celebrated John Hewitt International Summer School will run in 2025 from Monday 28th July – Saturday 2nd August at the Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre in Armagh. The theme this year, inspired by John Hewitt’s poem ‘The Colony’ is ‘Our country also: difference and belonging’. The Summer School will feature writing workshops, author readings and talks, panel discussions, exhibitions and evening performances, as well as an open mike and creative writing showcase. The full programme is available at the John Hewitt Society website.
Bernie McGill will facilitate the Short Story Writing workshops taking place on Monday 28th, Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 31st July from 2.45 pm to 4.45 pm. (Attendance is required at all three workshops. Fee: £75.) Full details and booking at the Market Place Theatre.
Bernie will be in conversation with internationally acclaimed author Tessa Hadley at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh on Friday 1st August at 1.30pm. Tessa Hadley has penned eight novels including Accidents in the Home (longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award) and more recently, The Past, Late in the Day and Free Love. She has published four short story collections: Sunstroke, Married Love, Bad Dreams and After the Funeral which won the 2024 Edge Hill Short Story Prize, following her previous win with Bad Dreams in 2018. Her most recent book, The Party, was published to critical acclaim at the end of last year. She won the Windham Campbell Prize for Fiction in 2016, and The Past won the Hawthornden Prize for 2016. (Tickets £12.) Booking and details at the Market Place Theatre.
Tickets are available for all individual events; daily tickets are priced at £45; weekly tickets (excluding workshops) are £240; weekly tickets (including a workshop course) are £305.
Bursary applications for the John Hewitt International Summer Scheme covering admission to all events and workshops are open until Wednesday 14th June. Full bursaries include accommodation. Half-bursaries without accommodation are available to those from the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Council Area. For full information on eligibility and how to apply visit the John Hewitt Society.
See you there!
Bernie McGill is the 2023 winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection This Train is For, published by No Alibis Press. Her first short story collection Sleepwalkers, originally shortlisted for the Edge Hill, has just been republished by No Alibis, now including a new short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4. She is the author of two historical novels: The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House.

Meet the Author: Bernie McGill at Suffolk Library, Belfast for Book Week NI
2025-10-23 15:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Suffolk Library, Stewartstown Rd, Belfast, BT11 9JP, United Kingdom
Join award-winning writer Bernie McGill at Suffolk Library in Belfast on Thursday 23rd October (3pm) for readings and reflections on her evocative fiction. Known for her lyrical style and deep sense of place, Bernie’s work has touched readers across Ireland and beyond.
Bernie McGill is the author of novels The Butterfly Cabinet and The Watch House and of the short story collections Sleepwalkers and This Train is For which won the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2023. She is an Honorary Member of the Linen Hall Library in Belfast in which building her writing archive is held.
This is a free event but booking is advisable. Contact Suffolk Library on 028 9050 9235
Email suffolk.library@librariesni.org.uk
Book Week NI takes place this year in libraries across Northern Ireland from Monday 21st to Sunday 26th October 2025. For events near you, check out the Libraries NI website.

Launch of Literary Archive at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast
2025-11-07 13:00 - 14:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Linen Hall Library, Belfast, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GB, United Kingdom
In 2025, acclaimed writer Bernie McGill was invited to donate her literary archive to The Linen Hall Library. To mark the occasion, Hugh Odling-Smee talks to her in the library about her archive and about her writing career, from her novels The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (2010) through to her most recent publication, This Train is For, for which she won the 2023 Edge Hill Short Story Prize.
A selection of items from the archive will be on display at the event.
This event is included in the programme for the 2025 Belfast International Arts Festival. Admission is free but booking is essential. Please book here.
The 2025 Belfast International Arts Festival takes place from 14th October – 9th November and features Talks & Ideas, Music, Theatre & Dance, Visual Arts and Special Events in 30 venues across the city. The full programme is available to view here.
Supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Mary Beckett: A Belfast Woman at Look North! Festival at the Linen Hall Library
2026-02-25 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | Linen Hall Library, Belfast, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GB, United Kingdom
Born in 1926, Mary Beckett is regarded as one of Belfast’s finest writers. Widely acclaimed for her novels and short stories, especially A Belfast Woman, A Literary Woman and Give Them Stones, her work did much to capture and explore the lives and experiences of women, especially working-class women. To mark the centenary of her birth, The Linen Hall Library in partnership with Look North!, brings together two acclaimed Belfast writers, Anne Devlin and Wendy Erskine, to talk about Beckett’s work and her enduring legacy. This session will be chaired by award-winning novelist and short story writer, Bernie McGill.
Supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
This event will be hosted by The Linen Hall Library, Belfast on 25th February at 1pm. Tickets £5. Booking details here.

Writing Workshop at Ballyscullion Park, Bellaghy with Bernie McGill
2026-02-28 10:30 - 15:30 (Europe/Dublin) | Ballyscullion Park, 61 Ballyscullion Road, Bellaghy, Derry, BT45 8NA, United Kingdom
Writing Workshop: Setting and Place
with Bernie McGill
at Ballyscullion Park, Bellaghy
Saturday, 28th February 2026
10.30am – 3.30pm with a break for lunch*
Join writer Bernie McGill for a one-day workshop at Ballyscullion Park on the beautiful shores of Lough Beg. The workshop will focus on writing about setting and place. This will be a practical and participative workshop with the aim of developing existing work or sparking new ideas.
Prompts and exercises will take inspiration from the garden and surrounds. All levels of experience are welcome from published writers to first-timers, poets and fiction writers alike. Participants will have the option to find a spot outdoors in the walled garden, weather permitting, and to write indoors in the historic 18th century stable block. Come with writing materials, prepared to write.
Bernie McGill is a novelist and short story writer and the winner of the 2023 Edge Hill Prize for her short story collection This Train is For. She is a Writing for Life Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund and an Honorary member of the Linen Hall Library in which building her writing archive is held. Her work has been widely anthologised and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. She works as a Writing Mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre.
www.berniemcgill.com
*Tea and coffee will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch.
Book via Ballyscullion Park’s Eventbrite Page.
See the full 2026 schedule of writing workshops at Ballyscullion Park here.

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Short Story Writing Weekend with Bernie McGill at YARN, Ballycastle
2026-04-11 10:00 - 2026-04-12 15:00 (Europe/Dublin) | YARN, Ballycastle, 24-26 Ann St, Ballycastle, BT54 6AD, United Kingdom
When & Where
11th April 2026, 10 am – 4 pm
12th April 2026, 10 am – 2 pm
YARN Ballycastle, 24-26 Ann St, Ballycastle, BT54 6AD, UK
About
Have you always wanted to try writing a short story?
Do you already have an idea?
Do you write in other genres and are interested in the form?
Whether you’re a first-timer looking for guidance and inspiration or a seasoned writer seeking a fresh challenge, this Short Story Writing Weekend is for you.
Join award-winning short story writer Bernie McGill for an enjoyable weekend of participative writing that will help to get your writing on track. Please bring your preferred writing materials (pen/pencil, notebook/laptop, etc.) If you’re already working on a short story, feel free to bring a copy for workshopping. Participants will be encouraged to share their work only if they are comfortable doing so.
Saturday 11th April: 10 am – 4 pm

What is a short story? How to get started with focus on structure, character and setting.
Participants will be offered prompts and exercises to help develop their work.
There will be a lunch break, with lunch provided on the day. Tea/coffee & snacks will also be provided.

Sunday 12th April: 10 am – 2 pm

What next? What’s happening under the surface of your story? What more does it need? This workshop focuses on how to dive a little deeper and how to revise.
We’ll finish with a Q&A and information-sharing on opportunities and outlets for work.
There will be a short break mid-session. Tea/coffee & snacks will be provided.

Accommodation
For those travelling from further afield, Yarn offers gorgeous on-site accommodation, with a special discount for retreat participants. Use code BERNIE20 when booking for 20% off your stay.
Who is Bernie McGill?
Bernie McGill is the 2023 winner of the prestigious Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection This Train is For. She is the author of two novels: The Watch House (nominated for the Ireland European Union Prize for Literature in 2019) and The Butterfly Cabinet (2010). Her short stories have been widely anthologised, and her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Bernie was co-judge of the Edge Hill Prize in 2024 and of the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award in 2023. She is a Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund, a Mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre and an Honorary Member of the Linen Hall Library, where her writing archive is held. Her first short story collection, Sleepwalkers (2013), was re-published in 2025 by No Alibis Press.
For full details and to book tickets please visit YARN, Ballycastle
