An Evening with Dr Zoe Venditozzi and Dr Claire Mitchell KC

Sat 31st May at 7PM

Kilbarchan Performing Arts Centre

Join The Ginger Cat Bookshop for An Evening with Dr Zoe Venditozzi and Dr Claire Mitchell KC in Conversation with Author CJ Cooke

Join us for an engaging and insightful discussion with the Witches of Scotland podcasters as they discuss their new book, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy with The Lighthouse Witches author CJ Cooke.

As a woman, if you lived in Scotland in the 1500s, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch. Witch hunts ripped through the country for over 150 years, with at least 4,000 accused, and with many women’s fates sealed by a grizzly execution of strangulation, followed by burning.

Inspired to correct this historic injustice, campaigners and writers Dr Claire Mitchell, KC, and Dr Zoe Venditozzi, have delved deeply into just why the trials exploded in Scotland to such a degree. In order to understand why it happened, they have broken down the entire horrifying process, step-by-step, from identification of individuals, to their accusation, ‘pricking’, torture, confessions, execution and beyond. With characteristically sharp wit and a sense of outrage, they attempt to inhabit the minds of the persecutors, often men, revealing the inner workings of exactly why the Patriarchy went to such extraordinary lengths to silence women, and how this legally sanctioned victimisation proliferated in Scotland and around the world.

With testimony from a small army of experts, pen portraits of the women accused, trial transcripts, witness accounts and the documents that set the legal grounds for the hunts, How to Kill A Witch builds to form a rich patchwork of tragic stories, helping us comprehend the underlying reasons for this terrible injustice, and raises the serious question – could it ever happen again?

It is Witches of Scotland’s campaign aim to bring what posthumous justice they can to those who were so cruelly and unfairly accused and tried as witches.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn and gain valuable insight into the Witches of Scotland campaign. How to Kill a Witch will be available to purchase on the night and have signed by both Zoe and Claire. This is a BYOB venue and glasses will be provided.