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Where Were You...

Where Were You...: Episode 5: Solo, A Cappella

Drama

Factual: History

Solo, A Cappella

Episode 5

Episode 5: Solo, A Cappella

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Where Were You..., Solo, A Cappella

By Alison MacLeod. An African girl finds herself in the heart of the Tottenham riots.

By Alison MacLeod. What is an angelic-singing teenage African girl doing in the eye of the storm, Tottenham, August 2011? Read by Daniel Kaluuya.

Read by: Daniel Kaluuya 

Where were you when Kennedy was shot? That was the starting point for this series in which five writers are asked to build a story around a significant historical event and explore it in fiction. As well as the assassination of JFK, the writers explore the meltdown of Chernobyl, the Tottenham riots, Columbine and the splitting of the lithium atom.

People often ask the "Kennedy Question" to highlight the magnitude of the event itself. And occasionally we find ourselves in the thick of the moment. But just as interesting are the polarities, disjunctions and weird connections between the moment that shakes the world and the life of the everyday.

Episode Five: Solo, A Cappella by Alison MacLeod

Valentine is a sixteen-year-old African girl with a voice like an angel. So what is she doing in the eye of the storm in Tottenham on 7 August 2011?

Alison MacLeod's hard-hitting story and fictional characters take their inspiration from the alleged events, theories and rumours that circulated regarding the trigger for the riots in London that summer.

Alison MacLeod lives in Brighton. Her story "The Heart of Denis Noble" was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2011. Her next novel will be published in the autumn of 2012. Alison is Professor of Contemporary Fiction at the University of Chichester.


Produced by: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Five writers build a story around a significant historical event and explore it in fiction

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Episode 5: Solo, A Cappella

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