Whether revered for their wisdom or persecuted out of fear, witches have long captured our imaginations. But what does witchcraft really mean? And how have beliefs and attitudes surrounding witches evolved across time? 

Delve into the history and symbolism of witches with our panel of award-winning historians and writers. Learn why women and men suspected of witchcraft provoked such fear and fascination and reflect on the place of witches in society and culture today.

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Speakers

Professor Ronald Hutton FBA

Ronald Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He is a leading authority on ancient, medieval and modern paganism, the history of the British Isles in the 16th and 17th centuries, and witchcraft beliefs. He is the author of many books including ‘The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present’, ‘The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain’, and, most recently, ‘Oliver Cromwell: Commander in Chief’. He was made Fellow of the British Academy in 2013.  

Dr Laura Kounine

Laura Kounine is Associate Professor in Early Modern History at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on gender, emotions, selfhood, crime and conflict and early modern witch trials. She has published extensively on the history of witchcraft and contributed to the recent Channel 4 series, ‘Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials’. She is currently writing ‘A History of Witches in their Own Words’, which uses oral history interviews with practicing witches to reflect on meanings of the witch in the past and now. She is also co-editing with Will Pooley (Bristol) the ‘Cambridge Companion to the Witch’, under contract with Cambridge University Press (forthcoming). She was awarded a British Academy Rising Stars Engagement Award in 2017.  

A. K. Blakemore 

A. K. Blakemore is a poet and novelist. Her first novel, ‘The Manningtree Witches’, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for Best First Novel and was shortlisted for the Costa and RSL Ondaatje Prizes. Set in 17th-century England, ‘The Manningtree Witches’ plunges its readers into the fever and menace of the English witch trials, where suspicion, mistrust and betrayal ran amok as the power of men went unchecked and the integrity of women went undefended. Her second novel, ‘The Glutton’, was published by Granta in 2023. She is also the author of two full-length collections of poetry.  

Chair

India Rakusen

India Rakusen is an award-winning audio and TV presenter and producer. She tells stories about our fast changing world, spending time with people learning about their lives and getting under the skin of what makes us all tick. India’s most recent podcast, 'Child', tells the story of a child from fertilisation to their first birthday through the lens of society, history, and science. Her podcast 'Witch', which aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2023, explores how the witch has become a symbol of both resistance and fear and examines the legacy of the Early Modern Witch hunts. Her podcast '28ish Days Later' won Gold for the ‘Best New Podcast’ category at the British Podcast Awards, and both 'Witch' and '28ish Days Later' were named the Best Podcasts of 2023 by Amazon. India is a regular presenter on both 'Outlook' and 'Lives Less Ordinary' on the BBC World Service and has also presented TV documentaries for BBC Three and BBC News.

Further information

Free, booking required. As tickets are free, people sometimes book and don't attend, so we have to issue more tickets than there are seats available to allow for this. Entry into the event is on a first-come, first-served basis and we recommend arriving in good time to avoid any disappointment.

This event will have live subtitles provided by StageTEXT, delivered by MyClearText.

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