Onwards
to the New Year, to the island and beyond
Events to look out for in early 2026:
Farhana Khalique kickstarts 2026 with the Word Factory Short Story Club on January 14th 6.30pm online. We will be discussing ‘Amalur’, a strange and powerful story by a new and mysterious talent, Liadan Ní Chuinn. This is a pseudonym and all the publisher will reveal is: Liadan Ní Chuinn was born in the north of Ireland in 1998. Every One Still Here (Granta, 2025) is their first book.
Wendy Erskine says of this collection:
It’s a long time since I’ve read a short story collection where I’ve felt such an aching tenderness for the people within its pages, and at times an anger on their behalf. How brilliant it is that Liadan Ní Chuinn can render their lives in such complex, compelling ways.
Click here for tickets Paid Subscribers to our Substack newsletter attend for free and receive other benefits.
To the Island: a new series of lunchtime writing sessions
Join Cathy Galvin, founder of the Word Factory, for a series of eight convivial bi-monthly lunchtime writing sessions running from January - May 2026. Open to any writers who enjoy working with different prompts and are looking to carve out time to write. We will work together for an hour from noon. There will be an opportunity to chat after each session and to share work and thoughts on WhatsApp. Plus a sharing of work at the end of the series.
Cathy will use prompts from a variety of short story and poetry texts, all linked to her new poetry collection, Ethnology(due Bloodaxe Books in February 26).
The sessions will be kept to a medium sized group online with a maximum of twelve participants. A committment to the eight sessions in this series is beneficial but don’t worry if you can’t attend every one: the mood will be welcoming and informal. Join when you can from January 30th -May 22nd 2026. More details and booking here.
Masterclasses: Fusions
We are continue our exciting Fusions Masterclass series with a range of brilliant writers working in a variety of forms. First up on March 2nd is novelist, poet and short story writerJoe Dunthorne, with a focus on the inspiration to be found in random formats as diverse as multiple choice exams or workplace accident reports books as ways to tell a story.Tickets go on sale on February 1st. Look out for other classes and conversations with Tom Lee, Alice Jolly and Cynan Jones.
Thank you all for following the Word Factory this year. We’ve enjoyed two live salons at the Music Room in Bloomsbury with wonderful readings from Adam Marek, Tom Lee, Farhana Khalique, Sarah Hegarty, Tom Harvey, Jools Abrams-Humphries, Paul McVeigh and Kit de Waal. There have been memorable online masterclasses with Lucy Caldwell, Tom Vowler, Jonathan Taylor, Sophie Haydock and Gaia Holmes. And of course shared conversations and insights in the short story club and on film (with Patrick Ryan): thank you hosts Farhana Khalique, Emily Devane, Tom Harvey, Giselle Leeb, Tom Conaghan. A great year with inspiring contributions (and seriously important new publications) from within the Word Factory community. And there will be more!
Keep busy and keep writing: have a wonderful Christmas. We will see you next year.
Cathy Galvin and the Word Factory team.
