麻豆约拍

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 麻豆约拍 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 麻豆约拍 Radio 4.