BFL44 - Re-Telling Stories

Best-selling authors Saara El-Arifi and Rosie Hewlett examine how ancient legends can be reinterpreted to challenge stagnant narratives and reflect today’s diverse realities, decolonising fantasy, empowering marginalised voices, and reshaping lore. Using storytelling as an act of reclamation, these masters of myth bring lost figures back into focus, allowing modern readers the honour of understanding them at their true depth. In conversation with Georgina Moore.

Rosie Hewlett’s first traditionally published novel, Medea, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Having secured a first-class honours degree in Classical Literature and Civilisation at the University of Birmingham, Rosie Hewlett has studied Greek mythology in depth and is passionate about unearthing strong female voices within the classical world. Rosie currently lives in Kent with her husband and is now a full-time author spending her days lost inside her favourite stories from mythology.

Saara El-Arifi is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of fantasy and historical fiction. After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to complete a master's degree in African studies specialising in Cleopatra's myth and her impact on Black women.