The Salem Witch Trials, Poetry, and the Violent Language of Law with Professor Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez

Challenge. Change.

Poring through court records from the Salem Witch Trials, creative writing Professor Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez saw an opportunity to examine the violent language of the legal system and reframe the narrative. The court records became a starting point for Gutmann-Gonzalez’s retelling of the trials through original poetry. The poems were published in the chapbook “A/An” in January and Gutmann-Gonzalez is expanding the project into a forthcoming book titled “O/ccult.”

It's a deeply personal project for Gutmann-Gonzalez, whose mother is a witch. Rituals and manifestations were common practice during their childhood.

“The court examinations are fascinating, but also very disturbing. I gravitated toward certain idiosyncrasies in the language. For example, English spelling was not standardized at that point, so a lot of the words were spelled inconsistently,” says Gutmann-Gonzalez.

“I tried to both reproduce and magnify these effects in my poems,” they continue. “I was interested in the power dynamics between the witches, the magistrates, and the so-called afflicted girls, but I was also interested in the texture of the language and the way that the language of the law can be used in ways that reify power.”

“O/ccult” is divided into four sections — each of which corresponds with a tarot card. The sections include the Salem Witch Trials archival work, reflections of Gutmann-Gonzalez’s upbringing in Chile during the U.S.-backed military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a polyphonic witch manifesto, and an exchange in which Gutmann-Gonzalez playfully takes the role of Salem judges and interrogates their mother about her experiences being a witch.

“I grew up around all of this witchiness,” says Gutmann-Gonzalez. “I'm trying to link the historical and archival with my family history.”

If you enjoyed this episode, check out "Witchcraft and Women in Colonial Society," an interview with Rachel Christ-Doane ’17 about Salem and the youngest victim of the trials, 4-year-old Dorothy Good.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. This episode contains music made by Brenna Moore '24, MSC '25. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.