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The literature of our past is littered with casual gender biases. You describe someone as a “witch” and the natural assumption is that they are female. But according to Diane Purkiss, while mostly women were accused in the English witch trials, in some of the Scandinavian countries, men were in the slight majority. In fact, around 6,000 men were put to death as suspected witches.
That gender bias is at play when it comes to secret societies too. Until recently, the words “cult” and “secret magic society” conjured up images of groups of men in hooded robes, chanting, lighting incense, and committing unspeakable, faceless acts of magic.
But modern authors are all about overturning tired tropes and challenging assumptions, and none more so than today’s guest, ST Gibson. Her new book Evocation is the first in a series that sees witches and male-dominated secret societies coming into conflict and working together to overcome great evil.
Saint is a literary agent, author, and village wise woman in training. A graduate of the creative writing program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the theological studies program at Princeton Seminary, she currently lives in Boston with her partner, spoiled Persian cat, and vintage blazer collection.
