Writing the Witch

WRITING THE WITCH

Immerse yourself in the rich literary history of witchcraft and create fictional work that showcases how our interpretation of witches has evolved over time. From the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to the Owens sisters in Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, literature is filled with the kiss and stain of witchcraft. This course will focus on the stereotypical images of the witch—from the virgin, to the seductress, to the hag—as well as discuss the movement to reclaim the term in an effort to showcase female independence and embrace the sex-positive language that is associated with the sisterhood of magic. While studying the true history of witchcraft through the accusations and trials that took place both in modern Europe and America, students will analyze cases of mass hysteria and the monstrous feminine, and as a result, create fictional work that showcases how our interpretation of witches has evolved over time.

ENROLL

$65

Writing the Witch

Immerse yourself in the rich literary history of witchcraft and create fiction inspired by our interpretation of witches over time.

Immerse yourself in the rich literary history of witchcraft and create fictional work that showcases how our interpretation of witches has evolved over time. From the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, to the Owens sisters in Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, literature is filled with the kiss and stain of witchcraft. This course will focus on the stereotypical images of the witch—from the virgin, to the seductress, to the hag—as well as discuss the movement to reclaim the term in an effort to showcase female independence and embrace the sex-positive language that is associated with the sisterhood of magic. While studying the true history of witchcraft through the accusations and trials that took place both in modern Europe and America, students will analyze cases of mass hysteria and the monstrous feminine, and as a result, create fictional work that showcases how our interpretation of witches has evolved over time.

About the Instructor

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8 & 15, as well as many others.

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, and an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University. She is a recipient of the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award, the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant, and has received the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writing.

Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press, and her nonfiction craft book for speculative poetry, Writing Poetry in the Dark, is available now from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Her 2023 poetry collection, On the Subject of Blackberries, is out now.

Follow Wytovich at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter and Instagram @SWytovich and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can sign up for her newsletter at https://stephaniemwytovich.substack.com/.