Podcast: Elisabeth Krohn, Sabat magazine

One of the most surprising magazines I’ve seen recently is Sabat – a title that mixes witchcraft with feminism to present a totally original view of the world. It’s surprising for several reasons – first of all, this apparently niche interest magazine has proven to be really popular; when we first featured Sabat on the Stack blog last year, we were amazed by the number of people reading and interacting with the post. Elisabeth Krohn, editor of Sabat, modestly puts this interest down to luck and timing, but I think there’s more to it than that.

Which brings us to the second surprise. Beginning Sabat magazine as a final project at university, with no previous experience of editing, designing or publishing a magazine, Elisabeth has created one of the most distinctive and original titles I’ve seen in a long time. Her first issue was good, but the magazine has raced ahead with each new release, and this third and final instalment is the best yet.

And that’s perhaps the most surprising part of all; three issues in, when most magazines are really just finding their feet, Elisabeth is calling an end to Sabat magazine and focusing on other projects. The project was conceived this way from the start, with a three-issue sequence focusing on the Maiden, Mother and Crone, but it’s still incredible that she and designer Cleber de Campos have managed to make it all happen in just 12 months.

Of course I wanted to speak to her about all this and more, so earlier this week she came over to the office to record a conversation for the podcast. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this magazine, and it was really interesting hearing her speak about her motivations in making the magazine, and why now is the right time to stop.

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