BANSHEE: Mythological Irish Women Retold
International Women’s Week 2026: Authors Ailbhe Malone, Jane Casey & Salma El-Wardany in Conversation at the Irish Cultural Centre
Join us at the Irish Cultural Centre for a special International Women’s Week 2026 literary event in London, featuring readings and an in-conversation discussion with acclaimed writers Ailbhe Malone, Jane Casey, and Salma El-Wardany, hosted by journalist Anne Flaherty.
This special evening celebrates Banshee, a powerful new anthology that reimagines the women of Irish mythology for a modern audience.
About the Book
Edited by journalist and author Ailbhe Malone, Banshee brings together ten of Ireland’s most exciting female writers to reclaim legendary women who have long existed on the margins of myth. Traditionally portrayed as mothers, warriors or witches supporting male heroes, these characters now take centre stage in bold new stories exploring power, defiance, love and destiny.
From treacherous landscapes and salt-crashing seas to mystical islands and generational curses, Banshee is alive with rebellious queens, unruly mothers and women who refuse to accept fate. These dark, lyrical and exhilarating retellings connect ancient Celtic mythology with urgent contemporary themes of feminism, identity and storytelling.
BANSHEE features new and original stories from a remarkable lineup of leading Irish women writers:
- Jane Casey – Cruel Acts
- Naoise Dolan – Exciting Times
- Salma El-Wardany – These Impossible Things
- Wendy Erskine – The Benefactors
- Nikita Gill – Hekate
- Anne Griffin – Listening Still
- Sarah Maria Griffin – Spare and Found Parts
- Jess Kidd – Things in Jars
- Megan Nolan – Acts of Desperation
- Sheila O’Flanagan – The Honeymoon Affair
Please note: not all contributors are appearing at the event; the live discussion will feature Ailbhe Malone, Jane Casey and Salma El-Wardany.
Doors: 7pm; Starts: 7.30pm
Tickets: £9 / Pre-Order Hardback book with Entry: £30
About the Event
Editor Ailbhe Malone will be joined by bestselling novelist Jane Casey and critically acclaimed writer Salma El-Wardany for live readings from the anthology and an engaging author conversation about Irish folklore, mythology and feminist storytelling. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Anne Flaherty.
Copies of Banshee (published by John Murray Press) will be available to purchase on the night, followed by a book signing with all three authors.
Celebrate International Women’s Week in London with an evening of myth, literature and powerful female voices.
About the Speakers
Jane Casey
Author of 19 novels including the bestselling and award-winning Maeve Kerrigan series. Her thriller The Killing Kindwas adapted for television in 2024. Her next novel, Everything She Didn’t Say, will be published in June 2026.
Salma El-Wardany
Author, poet, broadcaster and international speaker. Her debut novel These Impossible Things received global critical acclaim. A former BBC Radio London Breakfast Show presenter, Salma’s work centres on feminism, gender and amplifying women’s stories.
Ailbhe Malone
Editor and journalist, currently Senior Editor at The Strategist (New York Magazine). Formerly of The Guardian, The Irish Times, Wired and Nylon. Raised on Irish folklore, Ailbhe created Banshee to ask a simple question: why not let the women lead?
Anne Flaherty
Anne Flaherty was born in London and raised in County Clare. She has worked as a journalist for the Irish Press in Dublin and The Irish Times in Belfast, and has reported from Africa and Asia.
Anne holds an MA in Anglo-Irish Writing from Queen’s University Belfast and an MA in Children’s Literature from the University of Surrey.
She is a Trustee of the Irish Cultural Centre and a key member of its Irish Literature Programming team.
Praise for Banshee
“A dazzling modern mythology of our oldest stories, richly imagined by the very best of Irish writers.”
— Doireann Ní Ghríofa
“Dark, lyrical and exhilarating, these stories feel both timeless and urgently modern.”
— Louise O’Neill
