WORD FACTORY SHORT STORY CLUB: Patrick Ryan

THE WORD FACTORY PRESENTS

You Need Not Be Present To Win by Patrick Ryan. Presented by Cathy Galvin

THE STORY

Serenity Palms has been a home to ninety-two year old Ellie for some time, though she appears to have imbibed little of its balmy attempt at care-home calm. Her only visitor is her loyal son Martin and, in this tightly wound story, Martin has arrived for his regular visit to reveal something entirely unexpected.

" There is no telling how perverted some people are until they show their true colors. Don't you think I'm right?

This story is a masterclass in character and dialogue.

Taken from The Dream Life Of Astronauts (Dial Press) 2017.

Please Note: we will send out a story to you in advance of the meeting.

THE AUTHOR

Patrick Ryan, whose debut adult novel Buckeye was published in September 2025 by Bloomsbury, is the author of two short story collections including Send Me and The Dream Life of Astronauts which was named a Best Book of the Year by the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, LitHub, Refinery 29 and Electric Literature, and was longlisted for The Story Prize. His writing has also appeared in The Best American Short Stories. He’s a former associated editor of Granta and the current editor in chief of the US short story organisastion One Story.

A filmed interview of Patrick Ryan in conversation with Cathy Galvin is available at www.thewordfactory.tv and on our Substack account.

YOUR HOST

Poet, editor and journalist Cathy Galvin is founder of the Word Factory and the Sunday Times Short Story Award. Her stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies, most recently The Book of Coventry (Comma Press). She is the editor of Red, the Waterstones Anthology of New Writing and The Guillemot Factory. Her journalism has appeared in national newspapers and magazines including the Sunday Times, Financial Times and The Tablet. Her poetry is widely published. Her collection, Ethnology, A Love Song for Connemara, is due from Bloodaxe Books in February 2026.

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