Jenni Fagan: "Geillis Duncan Has A Broomstick"

Combining a remarkably fertile imagination with a powerful sense of social justice, Jenni Fagan has a preternatural talent for writing great fiction. Her latest novella Hex underlines that, retelling the true story of Geillis Duncan – the first woman accused in the North Berwick Witch Trials, and hanged in Edinburgh in 1591 – as a tragedy with a contemporary resonance. Note that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently issued a posthumous apology to the women persecuted as witches in Scotland. After Sturgeon made her announcement, we highlighted a blog on the Witches of Scotland campaign that was authored by Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell QC and originally published as part of our International 16 Days Blogathon in 2020.

This event will be chaired by Sally Magnusson and is sponsored by GENDER.ED.