An opportunity to explore witchcraft accusations and trials in conversation with an award-winning author will take place in the city next month.

‘Gender, Witchcraft, and History: A Conversation with A.K. Blakemore’, the second annual Lancaster History and Creative Writing Lecture, will take place at The Storey on November 18 at 6pm.

The event will see Lancaster University historians and creative writing experts speak to Blakemore about her writing process, and the challenges and opportunities of transforming the stories of people traditionally marginalised by society into historical fiction.

Award-winning English author, poet, and translator A. K. Blakemore, has received rave reviews for her ability to bring history to life through beautiful prose, deep research, and vividly imagining the mental worlds of people often hidden within the historical record.

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 disenfranchised people in society.

It will look at how fiction writers can give voice to those victimised by past societies, and how to flesh out the human experiences of people - mostly poor, single women - known only from hostile sources written by wealthier men.

The event 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.

This event is organised by the Lancaster University Departments of History and English Literature & Creative Writing, with support from the Lancaster University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Health Hub.

Both The Manningtree Witches and The Glutton will be available for sale at the event.

Admission is free, but registration for ‘Gender, Witchcraft, and History: A Conversation with A.K. Blakemore’ is required. Register on Eventbrite.