Short Stories

‘The kooky space-time continuum … known as the Troubles must be given the definition of having been a time spent at the height of the Troubles’

Summer fiction: I counted it as a lucky escape, a remission of sorts.

A land transaction takes an awkward turn when a chance reference creates an embarrassing association

An extract from Ragairne, a Weave story, by Deirdre O'Sullivan

Fifteen stories show Atwood’s range as a writer, her ingenuity, the ease with which she switches mode

Jazz was almost 15 and wanted more from life than a mattress on the floor of his box room

Internet dating can be challenging anyway but a first date during the pandemic adds a new layer

'Was it bad parenting, I wondered, to send your ten-year old down then back up three flights of stairs to bring you a top-up of spiked mulled wine?'

Sparks fly when three old school friends, one home from the US for the holidays, meet in the pub

Emer always knew motorbike racing was dangerous. But a death and a baby change things

Read Cock’s Eye Moon, a ‘clear winner’ chosen by judge Sarah Hall

Six years in New York have not stopped Gráinne loving the man she left behind in Dublin

By the author of Spies in Canaan and Travelling in a Strange Land, winner of the Irish Novel of the Year Award

A young girl’s illness at the end of summer puts a strain on an already stressed family

Swords are being sharpened on set, and battle is nigh

‘If she steps back now, pushes the door closed and says, thank you but I think I’ll walk, it’ll seem rude’

A substitute teacher arrives and young Hywel falls a little in love with her

A short story from the new collection This Train Is For published by No Alibis Press

Two couples form a friendship over regular games of bridge but suspicion clouds it

The late Moroccan author’s Something Strange, Like Hunger is now out in English

First published in The Irish Times, the story has been revised for her book, Dance Move

Hannah worked in a florists but she was no romantic, especially not on February 14th

A drag queen is dragged into a confrontation on Eleventh Night in Belfast

A woman’s routine of a coffee and bagel is challenged by a beggar pricking her conscience

Kevin Barry is the author of Night Boat to Tangier and That Old Country Music, among other books

Despite glad tidings, all is not sweetness and light at a festive gathering of old friends

Author discusses BBC National Short Story Award’s influence and WWII Belfast novel

In this story from the actor’s debut collection, Disappearing Act, a man acts up at a funeral

A young woman attends Cúirt and court in the same day and suffers the consequences

A teacher faces a test during the pandemic in this short story by Paula McGrath

Belfast may be changing, but Jonty is determined to fly the flag for tradition. Then things take a turn

Mitzie Murphy, who has a BA in psychotherapy, has used writing in her therapeutic work

‘There was a fierce whack of entitlement off it, the problem ... being that I didn’t belong to anyone’

The email came from someone in Northern Ireland. Was he available to sing at parties?

A young homeless man swaps the streets of Galway city for a dream home in the country

A new story by David Morgan O’Connor

A ghost story from the author’s debut collection I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay

Taken from Midfield Dynamo, several variations of a far from blissful bungalow home

An elderly man faces being tested for Covid in this award-winning writer’s story

A slightly disturbing tale from Paradise Block, Alice Ash’s debut collection