Nuala O’Connor, Paul McVeigh and Colm Ó Ceallacháin, in conversation with Cliodna Ní Anluain.

Spoken Stories is a themed-led trilogy of 36 original stories. Commissioned from some of the most dynamic contemporary writers associated with Ireland and the short story, they navigate the imaginative breadth of what it is to be alive in the world in our time. Tonight’s gathering of tales will be told by Nuala O’Connor, Paul McVeigh and Cork’s own Colm Ó Ceallachain, ably hosted by the brilliant RTÉ culture and arts producer and editor Clíodhna Ní Anluain.

Nuala O’Connor lives in Co. Galway, Ireland. Her poetry and fiction have been widely published, anthologised, and won many literary awards. Her sixth novel Seaborne, about Irish-born pirate Anne Bonny, is nominated for the Dublin Literary Award and was shortlisted for Eason Novel of the Year at the 2024 An Post Irish Book Awards. Her novel NORA (New Island), about Nora Barnacle and James Joyce, was a Top 10 historical novel in the New York Times. She won Irish Short Story of the Year at the 2022 An Post Irish Book Awards. Her fifth poetry collection, Menagerie, is published by Arlen House in spring 2025. www.nualaoconnor.com

Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrea Literary Award, and was shortlisted for many others including The Prix du Roman Cezam. Paul’s short stories have been in numerous anthologies, journals and newspapers, as well as, on BBC Radio 3, 4 & 5, and Sky Arts. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023. Paul co-founded London Short Story Festival and has edited three anthologies. He has judged numerous literary prizes and his writing has been translated into eight languages. His new collection, I Hear You, was published by Salt Publishing in March 2025.

Tá dhá chnuasach gearrscéalta foilsithe ag Colm Ó Ceallacháin. D’fhoilsigh Leabhar Breac a chéad úrscéal, Fiche, i 2024, saothar a ghnóthaigh an chéad duais d’úrscéal liteartha, chomh maith le buaic-shaothar próis na bliana, ag Oireachtas na Gaeilge 2023. 

Colm Ó Ceallacháin has published two collections of short stories. His first novel, Fiche, was published by Leabhar Breac in 2024. It won first prize for a literary novel and overall prize for a work of prose at Oireachtas na Gaeilge.

Clíodhna Ní Anluain is an RTÉ Radio arts and culture producer and writer including originating SPOKEN STORIES, theme-led seasons of new stories inspired contemporary Ireland and Continental Riffs, conversations with a cultural slant between pairs of artists makers and producers prompted by the continent of Europe. Her film Pillar Talk was screen by the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) as part of its 100 Years of Self-Determination International Conference (2022) and her related text was published in Art and Self-Determination: A Reader (IMMA: 2023). As an editor and anthologiser, she is published by New Island and The Lilliput Press. She is a producer for the international architecture archive, Pidgeon Digital.