Main content

Elif Shafak, Jonathon Heyward, Stillwater review

Booker Prize shortlisted writer Elif Shafak on her novel The Island of Missing Trees. Jonathon Heyward on his conducting debut for the National Youth Orchestra. Stillwater review.

Booker Prize shortlisted Turkish writer Elif Shafak has a new novel: The Island Of Missing Trees. Set in Cyprus it follows lovers who risk everything in a divided island. And one of the narrators is a fig tree. Shafak explains about melding passionate ecological and political information and messages.

Jonathon Heyward makes his Proms debut this week conducting the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He tells Samira why he loves working with youth orchestras, isn't so keen on being labelled a β€˜young conductor’, and how much he’s looking forward to getting on to the podium at the Royal Albert Hall.

In Stillwater, the new film starring Matt Damon, he plays Bill Baker, an Oklahoma oil rig worker determined to secure the release of his daughter Allison, in prison in Marseille for the murder of her flatmate and lover, Lina. Frustrated by legal, language and cultural barriers his own conduct strays beyond the legal. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews the film which is controversial because of the parallels of its plot with the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, for which Amanda Knox was convicted and eventually acquitted. Knox has denounced the film.

Presenter:Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May
Production Co-ordinator: Lizzie Harris

Available now

28 minutes

Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak's novelΒ The Island of Missing Trees is out now

Main image: Elif Shafak
Photo credit: Oliver Hess

Jonathon Heyward

Hear Jonathon Heyward conduct the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the Proms on Radio 3 on Sat 7 Aug at 7.30 pm.

The concert will be screened on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Four on Sun 8 Aug at 7 pm.

Stillwater

StillwaterΒ is in cinemas, cert 15

Broadcast

  • Tue 3 Aug 2021 19:15

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Arts Digital

The best of British culture live and on demand.

Inspire

Inspire

A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.

Podcast