Cwen

Alice Albinia’s Cwen is a sweeping, genre-defying novel that reclaims women’s power across time, myth, and politics. Set on a remote archipelago, the story blends folklore, feminism, and environmental politics into a bold narrative collage. Albinia shifts between voices — past and present, human and elemental — to reveal a history intentionally obscured by patriarchal systems. The result is a fiercely imaginative exploration of sovereignty and resistance. Her writing is playful, poetic, and fiercely political, asking readers to reconsider who is allowed to speak and who is written out. It is ambitious, inventive, and deeply resonant.