Whisky & Witches… Adventures of a Medical Writing Viking

There is no more typical way to start the Fringe season than heading down the stairs at the back of a pub to a basement featuring a bar, fairy lights and a microphone. Anyone lucky [or should I say brave?] enough to visit Edinburgh in August will know what I’m talking about.

 The event that day was called “Whisky & Witches”, an immersive experience with live music, five drams of whisky and two incredible storytellers running the show. For those most familiar with witches from popular media [with spooky season around the corner, anyone else about to start a Chilling Adventures of Sabrina marathon?], the fact that many people accused of witchcraft were reported by their neighbours after a quarrel might come as a bit of a shock… Did you know that, in Scotland, nearly 4,000 people were accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736 (84% women), with around two-thirds of them being executed?*

The stories of these people, particularly women, was placed at the heart of the songs performed by Christine Kammerer who truly transported us to another world. Meanwhile, we slowly made our way through the five whiskies selected for us. The pub owner’s tasting notes were truly worthy of the best surrealist writers [Albert Camus who?], taking us on fantastically sensory journeys with each dram, oscillating between universally familiar scenes [who hasn’t been blinded by the sun in the middle of a sunflower field?] and plot twists. By the fifth dram, there was little plot left, but I remember laughing all the way through.

So, what does any of this have to do with Med Comms? Storytelling

Just like any other storytellers, we (medical writers) craft narratives [rooted in data and science] about people, and for other people. So, I like to think that these types of events also contribute to me becoming a better writer… or maybe that is just an excuse to spend a lovely evening with my friends!

Now, while we wait for medical writers to branch out to other kinds of storytelling… [is that Ben I hear singing about real-world evidence?] let’s grab a dram of whisky (or coffee)!

Slàinte Mhath!

*If you want to learn more about witch trials in Scotland, check out The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft

Written by Dr Irmine Roshem - Medical Writing Viking