Seer... sage... sorceress... Faversham author Nydia Hetherington talks to Maggie Harris about her new novel, a reimagining of the life lived by the powerful witch Sycorax before her banishment to the island in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Outcast by society and all alone in the world, Sycorax must find a way to understand her true nature, but as her powers begin to grow, so too do the suspicions of the local townspeople.

Before becoming a writer Nydia Hetherington trained as an actor in London and Paris and set up a theatre company. She is the author of A Girl Made of Air. Sycorax, her second novel, has been shortlisted for The Wilbur Smith 2025 Adventure Writing Prize.

Maggie Harris is a poet, prose writer and visual artist, originally from Guyana. She was awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature in 2000 and 2014, and has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her published works include a memoir, Kiskadee Girl; her most recent poetry collection is I Sing to the Greenhearts.