short fiction
Sleepwalkers by Bernie McGill back in print, republished by No Alibis Press
No Alibis Bookshop 83 Botanic Avenue, BELFAST, United KingdomBernie McGill's first short story collection, Sleepwalkers, originally published by Whittrick Press and shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014, has been republished by Belfast's No Alibis Press. This republication includes the short story 'Waiting for Joseph', originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Short Works series. Bernie's second short story collection, This Train is For, also published by No Alibis Press, won the Edge Hill Prize in 2023. Reviews for Sleepwalkers: 'Bernie McGill is one of Ireland's great storytellers.' Ian Sansom 'These stories are bursting with emotional life, whether the dark swirl of grief to the most potent sensuality. Women deftly navigate their self-definition against the violent past and the hopeful future.' Caroline Magennis in the Irish Times ‘McGill’s plotting is masterful. These are “killer-blow” stories but carefully guards against sensationalism. Her talent for combining keen observation with a kind of symbolic import is evident. Everything is very precisely described, and yet, more unusually, there is a lyric quality to the description. McGill herself brings not only an awareness of literature, but a poetic sensibility to how she layers her short stories as a poet would layer an image – conscious that meaning is ambiguous, contradictory, polyvalent.’ Tess […]
Launch of Literary Archive at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast
Linen Hall Library, Belfast 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, United KingdomIn 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.