Inua Ellams

Available for over a year

Where can we escape to at times when we are cooped up, locked down, trapped indoors? Some people recall a a real location - a favoured corner to which they return again and again, such as the Swedes call a "wild strawberry place"; others find a refuge deep in the imagination. In these exceptional times, Radio 3 has specially commissioned five major writers to share their special place, and each night of the week, one of them offers to take us there and share it with us. The playwright Inua Ellams chooses a place no longer there, - the Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre in South London, which once, long ago, before it was burned down, offered him refuge at a time when he believed all was lost for him and his family. He takes us back to that place and time, and to a small cat, Pluto, who brought him new hope - hope that was soon to be fulfilled. Producer: Beaty Rubens