New Storytellers

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New Storytellers: The Flapper

The Flapper

BBC Radio 4 - New Storytellers, The Flapper

The story of one family told through one object - a memorial to a much-missed matriarch.

A memorial to a much-missed matriarch told through a single household object as her family celebrate the life and cookery of Audrie Guthrie, an idiosyncratic and creative mother.

The story of one family told through one object - a memorial to a much-missed matriarch as her family celebrate the life and cookery of Audrie Guthrie, an idiosyncratic and creative mother.

Malcolm Guthrie was 94 when his youngest son Bruce returned to live with him in their family home after 31 years away. This is the story of one of the untold heroes of domestic life - the daily use of something seemingly inconsequential but full of memory, meaning and symbolism to their family.  Documenting the ways in which the spirits of people can so often be captured within domestic objects.

New Storytellers presents the work of radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 and this first series features the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature.  The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.

The Flapper was produced by Bruce Guthrie, an MA student in Radio Documentary Production at the University of the West of England, who recorded his father and older siblings, Fiona and Tim, during the second Christmas after the death of their mother.  It’s a celebration of what the Charles Parker Award judges called her “idiosyncratic, matriarchal ways – a radio feature which acts as a way of dealing with loss as well as containing quiet joy.”   

Producer: Bruce Guthrie
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Factual: Life Stories

New work from winners of the Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature.

New work by radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 from the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature.

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