An excerpt from Ashes and Stones appears this week in the Lapham’s Quarterly Roundtable. Read it here.
Lapham’s Quarterly Round Table
Publications
Unboxing the North American edition of Ashes and Stones
The North American Edition of Ashes and Stones arrived today—published by Pegasus Books in the US on October 3rd. The stone on the cover is the Nicnevin stone in the village of Monzie. Named after the legendary woman burnt as a witch named Kate Nicnevin who also shares a name with Nicnevin, the mythic Scottish witch-goddess and the leader of the wild hunt in lore. According to Sir Walter Scott, she is the “Scottish Hecate.” The most notable fragments of her come to us from 17th century ‘flyting’ poems—word fights where she is mentioned satirically. Yet, in Monzie, magical women, holy wells, cliffs and neolithic menhirs are named after her. I write about this stone and mythic Nicnevin at length in a chapter in Ashes and Stones. It’s so exciting to see the wee stone on the spine of the book!
[IMAGE DESCRIPTION]: Hand holding a hardback book entitled Ashes and Stones. The book has a standing stone in a moor on it and the grey sky is full of ravens. The hand holds the book over a moor of blooming heather and the horizon on the book lines up with the horizon on the photo.]
Pre-oder the North American edition here.
North American Edition of Ashes and Stones
I’m delighted that Pegasus Books will publish Ashes and Stones in North America. The hardback will be available on 3 October, 2023. Preorders are open now.
a moving reminder for us all to connect with what’s gone before
–The Stylist
Ashes and Stones to be published by Sceptre in January 2023
I longed for an authentic glimpse of the women executed for witchcraft hundreds of years ago, and I went out into the landscape to meet them. Their voices and lives became braided with my own in moving and unexpected ways. I’m excited that Sceptre will bring this humanising perspective on the accused to a wider audience.’
–Allyson Shaw
The day after Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology for those accused of witchcraft in Scotland, Sceptre has publicised the press release for my book on the same topic. It is wonderful timing. Sturgeon’s apology is healing not only the past but present and future misogyny. I am moved to tears and so proud to be Scottish right now.
From the Ashes and Stones trade announcement:
Ashes and Stones is a moving and personal journey, along rugged coasts and through remote villages and modern cities, in search of the traces of those accused of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Scotland. We visit modern memorials, roadside shrines and standing stones and roam among forests and hedge mazes, folk lore and political fantasies. From fairy hills to forgotten caves, we explore a spellbound landscape.
Allyson Shaw untangles the myth of witchcraft and gives voice to those erased by it. Her elegant and lucid prose weaves threads of history and feminist reclamation, alongside beautiful travel, nature and memoir writing, to create a vibrant memorial. This is the untold story of the witches’ monuments of Scotland and the women’s lives they mark. Ashes and Stones is a trove of folklore linking the lives of modern women to the horrors of the past, and it is record of resilience and a call to choose and remember our ancestors.
Charlotte Humphery, Senior Commissioning Editor at Sceptre, who is working with Francine Toon’s authors while Toon is on parental leave, says: ‘Ashes and Stones is a beautiful exploration of a dark history that is often forgotten or trivialised. Thousands of women were murdered by state forces during the witch hunts and Allyson Shaw revives some of these women – through historical records, physical presence and informed imagination – with tenderness and compassion. In this book, she has created her own memorial that is rich with magic of folk lore and the power of the Scottish landscape and resonant with the politics of today. We are delighted to be publishing this brilliant and important book.’
Fitcher’s Bird in Sycorax Journal
My Fitcher’s Bird Sestina is up at the beautifully edited Sycorax Journal. It’s one of a collection of 13 poems, all new versions of traditional bird-lore fairy tales. Fitcher’s Bird is a Grimm’s Bluebeard tale, and I have set it to the music of the sestina form. I have long been obsessed with the fractal like structure of sestinas, with their intricate feeling of spiralling return.
“Dreaming of a Scottish Witches Memorial” in A Beautiful Resistance
I’m delighted that my essay “Dreaming of a Scottish Witches Memorial” will appear in A Beautiful Resistance in the Beyond Empire issue from Gods & Radicals Press in October. The issue can be preordered here: https://abeautifulresistance.org/a-beautiful-resistance-5-after-empire
“The Witch’s Skull” at Cunning Folk Magazine
My piece “The Witch’s Skull: the Search for Lilias Adie’s Remains is published at Cunning Folk Magazine. You can read it here. The illustration for the piece is by the wonderful artist, Kaitlynn Copithorne.
My Poem “Moth” to be published in The Stonecoast Review
My poem “Moth” about the folk belief that moths were perhaps witches in another form, will appear in the Superstition themed issue of Stonecoast Review, number 13, available from this online bookseller.
“The Cairn” in Rituals and Declarations 2
My piece on the Maggie Wall monument, “The Cairn” will appear in issue 2 of Rituals and Declarations, now available for preorder here. (cover by Maria Strutz)
Allyson Shaw, Author of Ashes and Stones 