Witch history author Marion Gibson delivers talk at CVHF

Marina Litvinenko, who was married to Alexander, who died in 2006, was part of a panel which was discussing Putin’s Russia in the Hiscox Tent

The panel also included John Sweeney, a British investigative journalist who moved to Ukraine in February 2022 to report on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Dr Samuel Ramani is a tutor of politics and international relations at the University of Oxford. 

A wide-ranging talk over 40 minutes covered Russian history, the invasion of Ukraine, the Wagner group, and the future of the war. 

It was followed by a 20-minute question and answer session before the panellists then signed copies of their books. 

In the Stove Tent author Marion Gibson presented a talk on her newest book, Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials.

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Marion Gibson (Image: John Rose)

Marion Gibson is a professor of Renaissance and magical literatures at the University of Exeter. Her previous books include Witchcraft: The Basics and Reading Witchcraft: Stories of Early English Witches.

In the talk emceed by St Andrews history lecturer Rory Cox, Marion explained how her latest book examines the evolution of witch hunts and how the mentality that led people to be persecuted under its guise persists into the modern day, such as the trial by media experienced by American pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.

Marion said: “I wanted people to have those conversations. What does a witch mean to us today? What do you think when somebody says ‘witch’ or ‘witch hunt?’ How does that play out in your mind? So that’s what I wanted to get you thinking about.”

For more on the festival, go to cvhf.org.uk.

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