Event Details

A conversation about historical fiction and gender with A. K. Blakemore, award-winning author of The Manningtree Witches.

We are delighted to welcome you to the second annual Lancaster History and Creative Writing Lecture. This year’s event will be a panel discussion with A.K. Blakemore, award-winning author of The Manningtree Witches and The Glutton. Blakemore has received rave reviews for bringing history to life through beautiful prose, deep research, and vividly imagining the mental worlds of marginalised people.

This event will draw both on Blakemore’s The Manningtree Witches and Lancaster’s history of witchcraft accusations and trials to explore what it means to write historical fiction about some of the most marginalised people in society. How can fiction writers give voice to people who were victimised by many of the people around them? How can we flesh out the human experiences of people - mostly poor, single women - who are known to us only from hostile sources written by wealthier men? We will also explore Blakemore’s most recent book, The Glutton, which deals with another marginalised figure - one who lived at the time of the French Revolution.

We will think about these matters and more during a panel discussion featuring A. K. Blakemore alongside historians and creative writing experts from Lancaster University. We hope you’ll join us for an enjoyable and thoughtful discussion. Both The Manningtree Witches and The Glutton will be available for sale at the event.