UCR education professor Begoña Echeverria will discuss “The Hammer of Witches” on Jan. 22

By Bettye Miller

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Noted Basque scholar Begoña Echeverria will read from her novel, “The Hammer of Witches: A Historical Novel,” at UC Riverside at noon on Thursday, Jan. 22, in Orbach Library, Room 240.

The event is sponsored by the Librarians Association of the University of California, Riverside Division, and is free and open to the public. Parking permits may be purchased at the kiosk on West Campus Drive near the University Avenue entrance to the campus.

Echeverria is an associate professor in the UCR Graduate School of Education who is known for her ethnographic and archival research on Basque identity, language and culture.

“The Hammer of Witches” (2014, Center for Basque Studies) takes place in a small Basque town convulsed by accusations of witchcraft in 1610. The novel tells the story of Maria, a girl determined to honor her mother’s memory by learning to read and improving her lot in life; the priest Salvador Zabaleta, who has sworn to protect Maria but whose own identity is beset by struggles; and the mysterious and sophisticated Sabine Elizalde. Based on historical events during the Spanish Inquisition, “The Hammer of Witches” shows that even in the face of tremendous evil, justice can prevail.

For more information contact Christina Cicchetti, education subject specialist in UCR’s Rivera Library, at (951) 827-5138 or christina.cicchetti@ucr.edu.