Wise Women

About this event

The award-winning author and psychologist discusses the myths and folk tales celebrating the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond.

From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be golden-haired princesses, and the evil-doers often older women.
But women today are searching for positive versions of themselves from midlife onwards, and Sharon Blackie’s dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with characters provides them. They outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles and seasons of the earth, weave the world into being – and almost always have the last laugh.

These women manifest their wisdom in different ways, and so offer us inspiration for how we too can walk boldly and live authentically, reimagine and reclaim the power of the second half of life.

Drawing on her many decades as a psychologist as well as a folklorist and mythologist, join the award-winning author of Hagitude as she discusses her new book, Wise Women, a collection of stories about older women in European folklore; stories populated by a diverse range of older women who hold the protagonist’s fate in the palm of their gnarly old hands, who see the bigger picture (and probably were the ones who painted it in the first place), or who have the last laugh, and offers ideas about how these might inform and inspire older women today.

We’re all looking to become Wise Women, each in our own unique way. Sharon Blackie re-members the beautiful, lost fragments of our rich European traditions, and seeking to reenchant a time of life which can seem dreary, and which most of us approach with trepidation, offers ideas for reweaving them into the fabric of a more meaningful and exhilarating everyday.

Sharon Blackie will be in conversation with writer and broadcaster Sophie Pierce.

The event will be followed by a book signing.

Sharon’s book will be for sale at its cost price of £20 during the event, or we are offering a special pre-order deal of £30 for a signed book & ticket option.

Praise for Wise Women:

‘A collection of stories retold to celebrate the power of women in the second, golden half of their lives. Begone crones, witches and hags – here, the old ways of thinking are cast aside for inspiration, boldness and fierceness.’ – The Bookseller

‘The glorious possibility that we might age and ripen, age and grow greater, age and be-come, while also accepting that we will age and die – this is what I have come to expect from Sharon Blackie’s expansive work’ – Stella Duffy, author of The Room of Lost Things

‘Nestled in insightful notes, this collection turns the spotlight on older women, celebrating their perspicacity and clout with the flair of a seasoned Broadway performance. This will be a smash-hit of a show starring mature and canny women in its second and third acts! Read it, absorb it, treasure it!’ – Shahrukh Husain, author of The Virago Book of Witches

‘This rich curation re-iterates the truth that women in midlife – and beyond – are a vital source of wisdom. Reading them ignited a fire in my belly!’ – Julia Bueno, author of Everyone’s a Critic

‘The book I’ve been longing for. I immediately want to give it to all my woman friends. It is so important and Sharon Blackie is exactly the right inspirational person to bring this topic and these new stories of old women to the culture’ – Jill Dawson, author of The Bewitching

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist, and an internationally recognised teacher and lecturer in the field of the mythic imagination. Her most recent book is was Hagitude: Reclaiming the Second Half of Life. Sharon’s awards include the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors (2022), and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award (2009). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has taught and lectured around the world.