Sky Arts Art 50
ProjectsNews ArchiveAboutHome

'Postcard from the Future- Northern Ireland' by Paul McVeigh

50 years from now, what will the UK look like? Four respected wordsmiths wrote and performed monologues for us from the perspective of a post Brexit Britain in 2069. Check out the other Postcards from the Future for England, Wales,and Scotland.

The full performance will be available here on Wednesday 3rd April.

Award-winning novelist, playwright and short storywriter, Paul McVeigh, imagines a future where Northern Ireland, a place defined by borders, even within its cities. With four counties out of a six county state voting Remain and a ruling party that was pro Leave, Brexit was the final straw for a people kept stuck within boundaries and tribalism by its politicians, who regularly ignored their rights and votes. In Paul's imagined future Northern Ireland's forward thinking people look back at the whole idea of nationalism as a barely-believable thing of the past.

Paul'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 in France. Paul also writes for The Irish Times and his work has been translated into seven languages.

Paul began his writing career as a playwright in Belfast before moving to London to write comedy. His shows toured the UK and Ireland including the Edinburgh Festival and London's West End. Pauls short stories have been read on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5 and have appeared in many anthologies and literary journals. He is Associate Director of Word Factory 'the UK's national organisation for excellence in the short story' The Guardian, and he co-founded the London Short Story Festival.

by_john_minihan_2.jpg
Postcard From The Future - Northern Ireland

You can see Paul's website here

The other projects

his_england_still_2_159045-1.jpg
'His England' by Matty Crawford and Joe Argent
border-_promo.png
'BORDER- A VR Ride' by Abigail Conway and Laura Collier
the-scary-bikers-web-1.jpg
'The Scary Bikers' by John Godber OBE
2_sides-1.png
'School Britannia' - '2 Sides'
brutish_mul1.gif
'The Battle of Heptonstall' by The Brutish Multitude
img_9929.jpg
'Empire' by Sarah Maple
rose_davies_big_drawing.jpg
'Here Be Dragons: A New British Flag' by Rosie Scribblah
website_pic.jpg
Art 50 Gathering
Nitin Sawhney presents Brexit - A Rational Anthem for a National Tantrum
'BREXIT: A Rational Anthem for a National Tantrum' by Nitin Sawhney CBE
edinburgh-1.png
'School Britannia'- Edinburgh
schoolbritannia.jpg
'School Britannia' - Poetry Anthology
big_sing_website_pic.jpg
'Spirit of Our Nation' by Peter Brewis and Sharon Durant
an_taoidann_ban-2.png
'School Britannia' - 'An t-Aodann Ban' (Fair Hill Face)
kuba_by_janina_sabaliauskaite_3.jpg
'Sweet Dreams' by Kuba Ryniewicz
group_photo_tbai-1.jpg
'Let Me Play The Lion Too' by Told by an Idiot
website_pic.jpg
'Postcard from the Future- Scotland' by Al Kennedy
kyle_1-1.jpg
'Postcard from the Future - Wales'
ehlu8qdg-1.jpeg
'Declaration of Independence' by Barby Assante
bowler_hat_orange_-_from_her-1.jpg
'And The Band Keeps Marching On' by Martha Barnett
dufftown_2.jpg
'Dogs and their Owners' by Dougie Wallace
the_brink_1s.png
'The Brink' by Simon Armitage CBE
lemn_sissay_with_his_poem_magniloquent_cartilage-_part_of_ladders_of_light-_a_new_constitution_for_the_uk_-photo_by_zachary.jpg
'Magniloquent Cartilage: A Constitution for the UK' by Lemn Sissay MBE
website_pic.jpg
'Backbone of Our Land' by Folkworks
boyblue_website_pic.jpg
'R.E.B.E.L' by Boy Blue
huntington_gardens_actors_on_shoot-1.png
'Huntington Gardens' by Simon and Paul Wade
dreda_say_mitchell.jpg
'Postcard from the Future- England' by Dreda Say Mitchell and Tony Mason
5_-_shaq_-min.jpg
'We Are British' by Rio Blake
jasleen_141_rs.jpg
'Daughter of a Perpetual Foreigner' by Jasleen Kaur
split_britches_image_from_barbican.jpg
'Unexploded Ordinances' By Split Britches
capture.jpg
'When We Collide: A British Songbook' by Hanbury & Groves
crew_pic.jpg
'Small Town Politics' by Gulliver Moore and Oliver Clubb
44439650_1763665660412301_749853275043800064_n.jpg
UnFOLD: Hope and Water by Lyrix Organix
lab_and_chi_2.png
'Automat' by Lab Ky Mo and Chi Thai
st_ives_website_pic.jpg
'St. Ives' by D.A. Nixon
tiai_landscape_with_titles_1800_x_900.jpg
'This is an Island?' by DanceXchange
version_2.jpg
'Come Hell or High Water' by The Citizens Theatre
maddogs_website_pic.jpg
'Mad Dogs' by Gadzooks
hania_amar_2.jpg
'Stock' by Naqqash Khalid
one_pic.jpg
'Shepherding the Uplands' by Phil Hatcher-Moore
brand_identities_website_image.jpg
'ReBranding Britishness' by Common Vision
mg_9602-1.jpg
'Window Wanderland' by Lucy Reeves Khan
britbot_website_pic.jpg
'Britbot' by Libby Heaney
youth_manifesto-_website-1.jpg
'Youth Manifesto' by National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and featuring Gustavo Dudamel
artist_mary_branson_with_ladders_of_light-_part_of_the_sky_arts_50_installation_in_salisbury_cathedral_-_photo_by_zachary_cu.jpg
'Ladders of Light: A Constitution for the UK ' by Mary Branson
i_am_from_2.png
'School Britannia' - 'I Am From'
cardigan.png
'School Britannia' - 'Cardigan's Corner Shop'
boris_website.jpg
'The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson' by Jonathan Maitland
nye_thompson_-_press_shot.jpg
INSULAE [Of the Island] by Nye Thompson
jack_cockers_on_shoot_image_for_social_media-1.jpg
'Me, My Nan and Oldham' by Connor Coulston