Banshee: Mythological Irish Women Retold

with Ailbhe Malone, Naoise Dolan, Nikita Gill, Tara Viscardi and Wendy Erskine.

An evening of stories from Ireland's most electrifying female writers, who have breathed new life into ancient Irish myths, not just retelling but radically reclaiming the stories of women who have too long stood in the shadows of warriors and kings.

Drawing from the acclaimed collection of tales, Banshee, in which women, always cast as mothers, warriors or witches, are now given the lead. These stories transports you to treacherous landscapes and salt-crashing seas, generational curses and mystical islands. Here you'll find unruly mothers, rule-breaking queens, and women outrunning their destiny – stories pulsing with desire, danger and defiance. This is a celebration of womanhood – and an homage to the ancient stories that still shape us.

With collection editor Ailbhe Malone and contributors including Naoise Dolan, Nikita Gill and Wendy Erskine.

She is Senior Editor at the Strategist (New York Magazine) and has also worked for the Guardian, Irish Times, Wired and Nylon (US). Educated at TCD, Ailbhe spent summers in the west of Ireland, surrounded by the foundations of legends featured in this collection. From learning about the salmon of knowledge from a seanchaí to reading Sinéad de Valera's Irish Fairy Tales under the covers at night, she gobbled up every variant of folktale she could find.

She has published two novels, Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023), and her third novel is forthcoming. She won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize and has been shortlisted and longlisted for prizes including the Women’s Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award. She writes essays and reviews for publications including the London Review of Books, The Guardian and Granta. She writes Irish-language poetry that she has performed for Radió na Life, REIC and Aerach Aiteach Gaelach, is an Irish-language media contributor for TG4, Raidió na Gaeltachta and Tuairisc, and is currently writing a fourth novel in Irish.

Her work brings together ancient mythology and folklore with modern archetypes. She has written and curated several volumes of poetry including Wild Embers, Fierce Fairytales, Great Goddesses, Where Hope Comes From, and These Are the Words, as well as a verse novel for Doctor Who. Hekate is the first of a trilogy of verse novels and plays that debuted at number one on the New York Times bestsellers list.

Her debut novel The Benefactors (2025) was named Waterstones Best Irish Book of 2025, was shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and for Best Novel at the Irish Book Awards, and longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. She lives in Belfast where she also works as a secondary school teacher.