Presented as Part of Red Line Book Festival 2025
Join us for a powerful evening of discussion celebrating extraordinary women and fearless voices.
We are delighted to welcome Caroline West, author of Wronged Women: Selling Sex in the Monto, alongside Jen Wallace and Leanne McCormick, co-authors of Bad Bridgets: Crime, Mayhem and the Lives of Irish Immigrant Women.
These remarkable authors will delve into the stories of women who defied societal norms, exploring themes of agency, resilience, and resistance in Irish history.
The conversation will be hosted by acclaimed writer and presenter Tara Flynn.
Don’t miss this chance to hear from some of the most compelling contemporary voices on women’s experiences past and present.
Dr Caroline West has a PhD and MA in sexuality studies, is an unashamed sex nerd and is fascinated by how sex can tell us so much about society and culture. She works in sexual violence prevention at university level, and also works as a sex and relationship expert for Bumble Ireland and UK, and as an advice columnist with the Irish Independent. She is the host of the Glow West podcast which focuses on sexual wellness.
She has spent over two decades working and volunteering in social care and has been a media commentator about consent, pornography, feminism and sexual wellness since 2016. Caroline is interested in the relationship between sex, power, and knowledge, and the weird and wonderful sides of sex. She is passionate about dismantling shame and stigma around sex and pleasure, and works to build an inclusive consent culture where everyone is safe to explore their desire on their own terms.
Jen Wallace is a Reader in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s University Belfast, and co-creator with Leanne McCormick of the Bad Bridget project. She is a historian of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ireland, with particular interests in crime and punishment, women and gender, and lived experiences for ‘ordinary’ Irish inhabitants. Her monographs on Women, crime and punishment in Ireland have won awards, and she has published papers on convict tattoos, women in WWI, migration, children in prison, and women’s voices. She lives in Belfast.
Leanne McCormick is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities at Ulster University and co-creator with Elaine Farrell of the Bad Bridget project. She is Director of the Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland at Ulster University, where she has taught history since 2009. Her research interests include women’s history, history of sexuality and history of medicine in Ireland/Northern Ireland and she has published widely in these areas.
Tara Flynn is an actor and writer in theatre, film, radio and TV. Her one-woman shows Not A Funny Word and Haunted (THISISPOPBABY and the Abbey Theatre) played to acclaim on the Peacock stage. TV includes Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and Line of Duty. Features include Aisha, Apocalypse Clown and The Cured.
She’s written three books, You’re Grand, Giving Out Yards and Rage-In. A popular MC, Tara co-hosts the comedy problem-solving podcast Now You’re Asking with author Marian Keyes on BBC Radio Four and BBC Sounds. She is currently appearing as Emma Rafferty in RTÉ’s Fair City.
Presented By: Red Line Book Festival
Duration: 90 mins.
*Please note this show is in our studio space with unallocated seating. Please arrive early. Latecomers will not not be admitted.
