The Thrilling Story Of The Healers, Artists And Prodigies Once Persecuted As Witches - From The Three-time T.s. Eliot Prize-shortlisted Poetpoetry Book Society Choicein Her Thrilling Fourth Collection, Midden Witch, Fiona Benson Enters The World Of Familiars, Fables And Hedge-magic And Focuses On The Persistent Superstition - The Fear And False Knowledge - That Was Witchcraft.telling Tales Of Imagined Transformations And Spell-casting, These Poems Present A Litany Of Artists, Dreamers And Outcasts And A Study Of Their Ostracisation. The Poet Looks At How Gifted, Sometimes Troubled, Individuals - Generally Healers, Artists, Prodigies And Almost Always Women - Became Scapegoats, Victims Of Societal Paranoia And Persecution, And Were Hounded For Centuries, Often To A Gratuitously Violent Public Midden Witch, These Women Speak Back To Us With Dark Humour, Insight And Real Herbal Knowledge.