Author and illustrator Rose Blake and writer and musician Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) joined Andy and John at the Green Man festival in Wales on August 18th 2023 to discuss Barry Hines's second novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968) and, inevitably, the film adaptation Kes (1969), directed by Ken Loach from a screenplay by Hines himself. This episode was recorded in front of a large crowd of festivalgoers, most of whom had either read the book or seen the film, or both. Why does this apparently simple story of a boy and a bird continue to speak to us nearly 60 years after it was written? And what does that say about the changes in British society in the same period - or lack of them?

Books mentioned

Barry Hines - A Kestrel for a Knave; The Gamekeeper
Rose Blake - A History of Words for Children; Meet the Artist: David Hockney; Egg and Spoon
Bob Stanley - Bee Gees: Children of the World; Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop; Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop

Other links
Kes (Ken Loach’s adaptation)
Threads (1984 drama by Barry Hines)