A book on Stoke Newington’s colourful past, present and people is being published by N16, a magazine that has covered the area for the last 12 years.
Dramas and Dissent is a collection of articles taken from N16 by the magazine’s founder and editor, Rab MacWilliam. He said: “The focus is on Stoke Newington and how it’s changed through the views of people who have written letters, people who have contributed articles, and interviews with local characters.”
The book takes a sideways glance into the inner city village, detailing the political and local issues of Stoke Newington, its important or influential residents, and an introduction to a historic part of London.
MacWilliam said the reason the area has remained so popular is because of its rich history and individuality. “Stoke Newington manages to retain its unique identity, dating back hundreds of years to the dissenting chapels of Newington Green in the 17th century, through the Angry Brigade (anarchist students in the 70s), to the annual music festivals.”
But it is the people that he says is the best part of Stoke Newington: “There’s always been dissident people, there has always been eccentric people living round here, but there has also been normal people.”
“Most people round here think of Stoke Newington as dissenting and different, but most people don’t know quite how much,” says MacWilliam.
“During the civil war period, the Cromwellians lived around here, and in the 19th century there were some very influential and radical thinkers, and intellectuals like Richard Price, Mary Wollstonecraft and Daniel Defoe, who influenced what happened in the world.”
Rab MacWilliam has decided to leave N16 behind, feeling it is now time for a younger generation to take the magazine forward. Dramas and Dissent serves to be his “last love letter” to the postcode and people he dedicated the last 12 years to covering.
Dramas and Dissent: twelve hectic years in Stoke Newington as seen through the pages of its local magazine will be published at the end of November, by Clissold Books.
