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Woman's Hour

Northern Ireland, Kathryn Stockett and Mum's poem in son's exam

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Tuesday violence broke out across Belfast following a knife attack in the city. Stephen Ogilvie is in hospital with serious wounds after the attack, and a 30-year-old Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder. Ogilvie's family, politicians and police have called for calm after people took to the streets, with some reporting that residents were targeted based on their skin colour. Anita Rani speaks to Louise Cullen, BBC Correspondent in Northern Ireland and Twasul Mohammed, who came to Northern Ireland as a refugee from Sudan in 2016 and has been helping families affected by the violence.

It’s been 17 years since The Help was published, Kathryn’s Stockett’s first novel that sold 15 million copies worldwide, was translated into 38 languages and made into a successful film with Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis. Kathryn has now written her second novel, The Calamity Club. She joins Anita.

Have you ever had one of those moments when life feels so circular that you just can’t believe it? A 'once-in-a-lifetime synchronicity' is what the poet Emily Cullen called it when she discovered that a poem she had written seven years ago, inspired by her eight year old son, turned up on the English exam paper he was sitting in Ireland. Anita catches up with them both.

Acclaimed horror film Under the Shadow is set in Tehran during the 1980’s Iran Iraq war and explores the boundaries between rational and irrational as fear encroaches. As a new play adaptation opens in London, Anita speaks to the director Nadia Latif and lead actor Leila Farzad.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Corinna Jones

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.5

From that crazy viral video to bizarre trends that are taking over our social feeds.

0:12.7

We investigate the stuff you're scrolling through in our brand new podcast, top comment.

0:17.9

I'm BBC correspondent, Mariana Spring.

0:20.2

And I'm investigative reporter Matt Shea.

0:22.0

Every week we look at the stories spilling out from our screens and into real life.

0:26.0

To work out what's actually real.

0:27.9

And what's not.

0:29.2

Top comment.

0:30.4

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:33.8

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:39.3

Good morning and welcome to the programme. In a moment, I'll be speaking to a woman from one of the

0:44.7

communities who have been under attack from violent unrest in Northern Ireland. Also in the

0:50.6

program, Under the Shadow, a horror play set during the 1980s Iran-Iraq War.

0:57.1

It's the tale of a mother in Tehran in the 80s, the fear and depression and ghostly presence of Jin.

1:03.5

I'll be joined by the star Leila Fazard and director Nadia Lateef.

1:08.1

Her last book was an international bestseller and was turned into an Oscar-nominated film.

1:13.6

It's been 17 years since Catherine Stockett wrote The Help.

1:18.0

She'll be here to talk about her second book, also set in the American Deep South, The Calamity Club.

1:23.3

It's a story of sisterhood and how women come together in the face of societal judgment.

1:28.6

And a once-in-a-lifetime synchronicity is what the poet Emily Cullen called it

1:34.2

when she discovered that a poem she'd written seven years ago, inspired by her son when he was eight,

...

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