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AVALARD PRODUCTIONS in association with MCCONNELL’S DISTILLERY
Presents
FIRST DRAMS - THE ANGELS' SHARE
TALES OF TERROR IN THE CRUM
28 October 2025
McConnell's Distillery at Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast
Tickets £12 from firstdramshalloween.eventbrite.com
First Drams is back for the Halloween season at McConnell's Distillery, for a night of spooky, macabre and horrific tales against the backdrop of the converted former A-wing of the Victorian Crumlin Road Gaol.
Your hosts Ciarán McAlinden and Robert JE Simpson will lead you through an evening of brand new stories from new and upcoming writers from Belfast and beyond.
Book your tickets now before they sell out!
SUBMISSIONS
If you’d like to submit a piece for inclusion at FIRST DRAMS please email Firstdramssubmissions@mail.com no later than noon on 5 October 2025 with ‘FIRST DRAMS Halloween submission’ in the subject line.
As this is our Halloween offering we're expressing a preference for tales suitable to the season - horror, creepy, macabre, unsettling - in fiction, auto-fiction, and true story form.
All stories should be under 10 minutes in duration when read aloud. We'd recommend no longer than 1300 words max.
Submissions can be extracts from a longer work, completed chapters, works-in-progress, fiction, autofiction, or true life stories. in prose form.
There is no lower word count.
Multiple submissions are permissible. But each individual piece should be under 10 minutes in length when performed.
Please include your piece of writing (as a word document attachment, double spaced).
It is possible to make adjustments after your piece has been accepted - so let us know if you're sending a finished piece or draft.
Pieces do not need to be finalised for submission date, but we'd like an indication of your story's content, style and expected length so we can programme it appropriately if accepted.Please include a couple of lines in the form of a bio about yourself.
Submissions that fail to follow the criteria above will be discarded unread.
There is no fee required to submit to, or to read at the event.
We will let you know if your piece has been accepted by 9pm on 15th October.
If you would like to submit a story, but aren't comfortable reading your work aloud, or are unable to make it in person, please let us know - we may can provide a performer to read your piece on the night.
PREVIOUS FIRST DRAM EVENTS
AVALARD PRODUCTIONS in association with MCCONNELL’S DISTILLERY
Presents
FIRST DRAMS: TALES IN THE CRUM
6 August 2025
Avalard Productions presents a night of new storytelling on 6 August 2025 amid the unique backdrop of McConnell’s Distillery at the Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast.
There is a saying ‘"Nights without work should be spent with whisky and books." With that in mind, FIRST DRAMS: TALES IN THE CRUM brings together a horde of upcoming writers sharing brand new stories, served with a dram of McConnell’s finest Belfast-distilled spirits.
Belfast boasts a rich literary history. A city which has inspired numerous writers over generations. Its landscapes and people shaping their works. The city’s complex history, its relationship with the Troubles, its people, have provided a rich well to draw from for generations of authors like C.S. Lewis, Seamus Heaney, Jan Carson, Glenn Patterson, and Lucy Caldwell to name but a few.
The one thing all these writers have in common is that at some point in their lives they wrote their first piece of prose which started them on their literary journeys. Precious first drafts shared amongst family and friends. Works in progress performed to a wider audience. Those receptions helping shape the direction of the final works.
FIRST DRAMS is a brand new event where up and coming authors have the opportunity to present their work to a live audience.
The featured storytellers are from a variety of backgrounds, identities and ideologies, sharing a commonality of time spent in this beautiful city.
FIRST DRAMS will be night of extraordinary stories. Fiction stories. True stories. Stories that delight, entertain, educate. Stories that will make you laugh, and cry. Stories that inspire.
This is an evening celebrating the special experience of hearing a new work for the first time. Bringing together writers and audiences in a crucial nascent moment of creativity.
You’ll be treated to a mix of short stories, extracts from new novels, flash fiction, and intriguing tale from the writers’ real lives.
FIRST DRAMS is hosted by Ciaran McAlinden and Robert JE Simpson and takes place in the stunning setting of The McConnell’s Distillery at Crumlin Road Gaol. A venue steeped in the history of Belfast. Our stories will be added to the thousands that have been told by those who have passed through these corridors.
Just as McConnell’s are restoring the great tradition of whiskey distilling to Belfast, we hope FIRST DRAMS will help revive the storytelling tradition in the city and beyond, giving a vital space for new and upcoming writers to present their work alongside established talent. The literary equivalent of blending the best of the spirit of Belfast and beyond into a unique evening’s entertainment.
First Drams: Tales in the Crum will take place on Wednesday 6th August with doors opening at 7.00. Tickets for this event can be obtained from the link below.
Don’t miss this very special event to hear the best of Belfast’s newest authors in the unique setting of the McConnell’s Distillery.
SUBMISSIONS
If you’d like to submit a piece for inclusion at FIRST DRAMS please email Firstdramssubmissions@mail.com no later than noon on 23 July 2025 with ‘FIRST DRAMS submission’ in the subject line.
Please include your piece of writing (as a word document attachment, double spaced), and let us know if its finished or a draft. Pieces do not need to be finalised for submission date, but we'd like an indication of your story's content, style and expected length so we can programme it appropriately if accepted.
Please also include a couple of lines about yourself.
We are keen to keep the evening open to newcomers alongside more established storytellers. We will let you know if your piece has been accepted by 9pm on 29th July.
Submissions can be extracts from your work, completed chapters, works-in-progress, fiction, autofiction, or true life stories.
There is no lower word count, but submissions should be under 10 mins in length when read. Multiple submissions are permissible.
If you would like to submit, but aren't comfortable reading your work, please let us know as we may be able to provide a performer to read your piece on the night.
TICKETS
Available via Eventbrite for £12 each (plus booking fee) here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/first-drams-tales-in-the-crum-tickets-1469497519639
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