Writing Belfast: Stories of a Changing City - Paul McVeigh

Written with Paul McVeigh’s characteristic flair and Belfast wit, I Hear You (Salt, 2025) is a vibrant collection of short stories from the award-winning author of The Good Son.

Specially written for BBC Radio 4, the stories include a ten-part sequence set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in North Belfast and the old clashes with the new on diversity, social class, acceptance and change.

Join Paul in conversation with writer Cathy Galvin, founder of the short story organisation The Word Factory and The Sunday Times Short Story Award. 

Paul McVeigh’s short stories have been published in numerous anthologies, journals and newspapers, and read on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5, RTÉ Radio and Sky Arts. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023. He co-founded the London Short Story Festival and was Associate Director of The Word Factory. Paul has edited three short story anthologies and guest edited Southword Journal. Paul has judged numerous international literary prizes and was acting Head of Literature for Arts Council NI. Paul’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The McCrea Literary Award and the Polari First Book Rpize and his writing has been translated into eight languages.

Poet and journalist Cathy Galvin is founder of the short story organisation The Word Factory and The Sunday Times Short Story Award. Her stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies, most recently The Book of Coventry (Comma Press). She is the editor of Red, the Waterstones Anthology of New Writing. She has been a staff writer and senior editor for The Sunday Times and Newsweek. Her poetry is widely published and includes the sequences Walking the Coventry Ring Road With Lady Godiva (Guillemot Press), Rough Translation and Black and Blue (The Melos Press). Her debut collection, Ethnology, inspired by her Connemara heritage, is due from Bloodaxe Books in 2026.