Walk With Amal

As she strides through the stories and across Europe, Amal takes on many guises. She's a refugee child from a camp on the Turkish Syrian border, who sets off in search of her mother, accompanied by an alter-ego puppet guide; she's befriended by a seagull in Greece; she strikes fear into the heart of a small, lonely boy in Italy; becomes the target for a kidnapping in Belgium -

The Walk has been created by Good Chance Theatre, who started the theatre in the Calais Jungle and Handspring Puppet company, who created the puppets for War Horse. Little Amal began her walk in Turkey at the end of July and, helped by a team of puppeteers, performers, local people and arts organisations, she'll walk nearly 9000km across Europe, finishing in Manchester in November. She arrives in the UK, at Folkestone, on 19 October.

A Day at the Beach by Emilienne Malfatto takes place after the long journey through Europe. A young Syrian girl waits, exhausted, on the beach at Calais for the boat that she hopes will take her across the water to safety. Amal has nothing left to her except her memories of home, when she had parents, a family, a roof over her head, food on her plate and the ordinary worries of a small girl.

Emilienne Malfatto is a photojournalist, working between Iraq, France and Latin America. She won this year's Prix Goncourt first novel prize for her novel ‘Que sur toi se lamente le Tigre'.

Producers: Sara Davies with Tobias Withers

A Cast Iron Radio Production

Emilienne Malfatto's story centres on the plight of a Syrian girl in France.

As she strides through the stories and across Europe, Amal takes on many guises. She's a refugee child from a camp on the Turkish Syrian border, who sets off in search of her mother, accompanied by an alter-ego puppet guide; she's befriended by a seagull in Greece; she strikes fear into the heart of a small, lonely boy in Italy; becomes the target for a kidnapping in Belgium -

The Walk has been created by Good Chance Theatre, who started the theatre in the Calais Jungle and Handspring Puppet company, who created the puppets for War Horse. Little Amal began her walk in Turkey at the end of July and, helped by a team of puppeteers, performers, local people and arts organisations, she'll walk nearly 9000km across Europe, finishing in Manchester in November. She arrives in the UK, at Folkestone, on 19 October.

A Piece of Cake by Nicolas Ancion catches up with the puppet in Belgium where two young men try to kidnap it to raise awareness of the death of a Kurdish child shot by a policeman, only to be abducted themselves by a group who want to give Amal a special Belgian welcome.

Nicolas Ancion is a novelist and scriptwriter who grew up in a puppet theater in Liege, Belgium. His work has been translated into a dozen languages and awarded several literary prizes. His novel `The Man Who Refused To Die` is published by Dis Voir Editions.

Producers: Sara Davies with Tobias Withers

A Cast Iron Radio Production

Nicolas Ancion's story finds puppet refugee Little Amal facing kidnap in Belgium.

As she strides through the stories and across Europe, Amal takes on many guises. She's a refugee child from a camp on the Turkish Syrian border, who sets off in search of her mother, accompanied by an alter-ego puppet guide; she's befriended by a seagull in Greece; she strikes fear into the heart of a small, lonely boy in Italy; becomes the target for a kidnapping in Belgium -

The Walk has been created by Good Chance Theatre, who started the theatre in the Calais Jungle and Handspring Puppet company, who created the puppets for War Horse. Little Amal began her walk in Turkey at the end of July and, helped by a team of puppeteers, performers, local people and arts organisations, she'll walk nearly 9000km across Europe, finishing in Manchester in November. She arrives in the UK, at Folkestone, on 19 October.

Hide and Seek by Lorenza Pieri is set in Genazzano, near Rome, where the children of the town are playing games to welcome Little Amal on her journey through Italy. But for Daniel, hiding on the steps to the castle to avoid being found and caught by the other children and their huge, terrifying visitor, the game threatens to be another humiliation in a long line.

Lorenza Pieri is a novelist, journalist and literary translator. Her first novel to appear in English, The Garden of Monsters, is published by Europa Editions.

Producers: Sara Davies with Tobias Withers

A Cast Iron Radio Production

Lorenza Pieri re-imagines puppet refugee Little Amal's visit to Italy.

As she strides through the stories and across Europe, Amal takes on many guises. She's a refugee child from a camp on the Turkish Syrian border, who sets off in search of her mother, accompanied by an alter-ego puppet guide; she's befriended by a seagull in Greece; she strikes fear into the heart of a small, lonely boy in Italy; becomes the target for a kidnapping in Belgium -

The Walk has been created by Good Chance Theatre, who started the theatre in the Calais Jungle and Handspring Puppet company, who created the puppets for War Horse. Little Amal began her walk in Turkey at the end of July and, helped by a team of puppeteers, performers, local people and arts organisations, she'll walk nearly 9000km across Europe, finishing in Manchester in November. She arrives in the UK, at Folkestone, on 19 October.

This episode is Milk of the World by Sema Kaygusuz. A young refugee girl is rescued from a camp on the Syrian Turkish border by a huge puppet, who becomes her protector and alter ego as they set off to find the girl's mother.

Sema Kaygusuz is one of Turkey's leading fiction writers, whose novels and short stories have been widely translated and won many awards, including an English PEN award for Every Fire You Tend, which also won the TA First Translation Prize for her translator, Nicholas Glastonbury, who translated this story. The story is read by Sirine Saba.

Producers: Sara Davies with Tobias Withers

A Cast Iron Radio Production

Sema Kaygusuz writes in response to puppet refugee Little Amal's walk across Europe.

As she strides through the stories and across Europe, Amal takes on many guises. She's a refugee child from a camp on the Turkish Syrian border, who sets off in search of her mother, accompanied by an alter-ego puppet guide; she's befriended by a seagull in Greece; she strikes fear into the heart of a small, lonely boy in Italy; becomes the target for a kidnapping in Belgium -

The Walk has been created by Good Chance Theatre, who started the theatre in the Calais Jungle and Handspring Puppet company, who created the puppets for War Horse. Little Amal began her walk in Turkey at the end of July and, helped by a team of puppeteers, performers, local people and arts organisations, she'll walk nearly 9000km across Europe, finishing in Manchester in November. She arrives in the UK, at Folkestone, on 19 October.

Of Girls and Gulls by Auguste Corteau tells of a scavenging seagull who bonds with the huge puppet-girl Amal as she is foraging for food on a rubbish tip outside Athens: both are far from home and in need of friendship.

Auguste Corteau has written novels and short stories for adults and children, and has been awarded the Greek National Book Award for Children's Literature and the IBBY Prize for Best Children's Novel. His novel The Book of Katarina is published in English by Parthian Books and available as an audiobook.

Producers: Sara Davies with Tobias Withers

A Cast Iron Radio Production

Auguste Corteau writes in response to puppet refugee Little Amal's walk across Europe.