short fiction
David Park & Bernie McGill in Conversation with Emma Warnock at Belfast Book Festival
Crescent Arts Centre 2-4 University Road, BELFAST, United KingdomJoin 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 Bernie McGill’s This Train Is For is a collection of short stories; some unpublished, some stories previously published within award winning anthologies.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 […]
Book Signing at Waterstones, Coleraine: This Train is For by Bernie McGill
Waterstones, Coleraine 10 Church Street, Coleraine, United KingdomJoin 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 This new collection, her first since 2013, contains unpublished stories along with a number of previously published stories featured within award winning anthologies.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 […]
Reading & Book Signing at Waterstones, Foyleside: This Train is For by Bernie McGill
Waterstones, Foyleside Unit 7, Foyleside Centre, Derry, United KingdomJoin 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 […]
Bernie McGill & Rosemary Jenkinson in Conversation at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy
Seamus Heaney HomePlace 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, United KingdomIn 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 […]
An Arrow in Flight: A Panel Conversation on the short story at Cairde Sligo Arts Festival
Hawk's Well Theatre 2 Temple Street, Abbeyquarter North,, Sligo, IrelandWith 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 […]
Creative Writing Workshop: Summer Home with Bernie McGill at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy
Seamus Heaney HomePlace 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, United KingdomJoin 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
The Secret Bookshelf 38 Scotch Quarter, Carrickfergus, United KingdomSet 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 […]
Celebrating the Short Story with Wendy Erskine & Bernie McGill
Market Place Theatre, Armagh Market Street, Armagh, Armagh, United KingdomCelebrating 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 […]
Sand, fire, glass, sea: a creative writing and glassmaking workshop at Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart
Flowerfield Arts Centre 185 Coleraine Road, PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland, United KingdomLed 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.
Writing Workshop, Old Church Centre, Cushendun
Old Church Centre, Cushendun 1 Church Lane, Cushendun, United KingdomAs part of Culture Month, Cushendun Old Church Centre is hosting a writing workshop with author Bernie McGill. 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 be used. 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 stories, Sleepwalkers, was shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her new short story collection, This Train is For, was published in June 2022 by No Alibis Press. Bernie was Writing Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) at Queen’s University, Belfast from 2018 to 2020. She is an Associate Fellow of the RLF and works as a Lector (for Reading Round at Coleraine Library) and Writing Facilitator for the organisation, and is a Writing Mentor with the Irish Writers’ Centre. She lives with her family in Portstewart. Booking for the Writing Workshop is via the Old Church Centre website. *Please note that Bernie will read from her Rathlin island novel The Watch House at […]