Published Works
Novels
De Skyldiges Klub is Banner’s debut novel, and was published in 2025 by Forlaget Brændpunkt in Denmark. The story is set at the prestigious boarding school Maple Hills and follows principal Robert Miller and his student, Elin Arquette. The school’s reputation has been spotless for decades; but when one student finally decides to break their silence, the whispers of sexual abuse begin to seep out of the dark corners of the old institution. While principal Miller hides away in his office, attempting to save the school, Elin is forced to confront the culture of silence that preys on the weakest amongst the students.
“In American literature, the Gothic tale is a realm where evil and the grotesque thrive within old, dilapidated buildings, and where psychological and physical traumas lie deeply buried—suppressed. It is precisely from this perspective that the novel is compelling to discuss: What happens when people move in and out of these physical manifestations of harmful yet historical structures? And what happens if one were to succeed in completely removing these structures?”
- Lasse Rask Bach for Plot Twist Society.
“In the charged atmosphere of the boarding school, I was constantly on guard. You have a persistent sense that something isn’t quite right, yet you simply can’t put your finger on what it is. Being a curious person, couldn’t help but continue reading.”
-Emilie Kildall for Østjysk NærAvis
The novel is yet to be published in English.
Short Fiction
Days without nights, is a short story excerpt published in the II edition of the Scrimshaw Journal in 2023, that follows a group of Canadian PhD students who travel to Greenland as part of their research. The piece explores ecological unrest, indigenous wisdom, and colonial guilt.
The Stranger, a piece of flash fiction published in the III edition of the Scrimshaw Journal. A young woman’s act of hubris against nature leaves her hanging between life and death. A split second decision decides wether she saves herself or abandoned the animals she put in danger.
Non-Fiction
In her essay, Good Grief, Banner launches herself into a raw and unravelling exploration of the grief she felt after losing her older sister “Sonja” to cancer. In an unapologetic manner, Banner takes the reader through the journey of grief which shows itself in odd facets. One moment pondering the life of jellyfish, the next being trapped in a dark movie theater while obsessively overthinking an itchy birthmark. All while wondering what happened to “Sonja’s” favourite coffee mug.
The piece was published in the II edition of The Scrimshaw Journal and remains one of Banner’s most praised works from her time at the ATU in Sligo.
Poetry
From Dust to Soil – a free-verse poem - was performed live at the Numberless Dreams Event in 2023, when Sligo celebrated the Nobel Centenary of WB Yeats. Banner, along with several other emerging writers, was invited to read, celebrating the future of poetry. The poem is a retelling of Eve’s disobedience in The Fall of Man and the loss of female innocence.
The Strawman – a free verse poem- was published in the IV edition of The Scrimshaw Journal. On an early morning in September of 2024, Banner went to the local gas station in Ballinode to pick up a cartoon of milk, when she noticed a headline about the Pelicot Rape trial, which read
“Her husband raped her at night – then had breakfast with her in the morning.”
Months later, while discussing the rape trial with a friend, the friend revealed how she too had been subjected to rape. Going on to describe how the assailant, who was another close friend of Banner, had made her a breakfast plate the morning after. Struck by how the act of breakfast between victim and assailant, domesticated rape, Banner wrote The Strawman as en expression of the absurd duality. The poem journeys from the darkness of the bedroom into the morning light, where the breakfast becomes an act of violation in itself.
