Author Event: Sally O'Reilly's Hagtale

Description

Sally O’Reilly's books celebrate lost and forgotten women's voices. Her 2025 novel 'Hagtale: A Macbeth Origin Story' is a dark fairy-tale which retells Shakespeare’s play Macbeth from the perspective of a feral witch and a fourteenth century monk who is attempting to find a document which records the Scottish king-line. It contrasts the story Shakespeare tells with the lost hag’s version, an oral history which has been forgotten. An avid reader all her life, Sally retains her childhood fascination with magic and the supernatural. She is the author of four novels and the nonfiction guide, 'How to be a Writer'. Her historical novel 'Dark Aemilia' explores the identity of the Dark Lady who inspired Shakespeare’s later sonnets. It was nominated for a host of awards. Now a full-time writer, Sally has freelanced for the Guardian, Sunday Times and Evening Standard and worked as a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Open University.