The Bradford Literature Festival (sometimes abbreviated to BLF) is a spoken and written word event that promotes literature and is held for ten days annually over June and July in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. The first event was held in 2014 and was attended by 968 people; by the time of the 2018 event, the attendance had risen to over 70,000. The event is noted for its attendance by minority groups and writers, with over 50% of attendees coming from BAME backgrounds.

History

The Festival was started by Syima Aslam and Irna Qureshi in 2014 for a weekend. By the time of the 2017 event, they had a full-time staff of seven besides themselves with funding from

Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, ...

, the Arts Council and the National Lottery. After the short weekend festival in 2014, the event was lengthened to cover ten days which was held across late June/early July for the 2017 and 2018 and 2019 festivals. The 2016 event was held in late May of that year. The festival is a series of events held at different locations across the Bradford District including theatres such as the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...

, bookshops, schools, colleges,

Bradford City Hall Bradford City Hall is a 19th-century town hall in Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building which has a distinctive clock tower. History Before its relocation, between 1847 and 1873, the town hall ...

, bars and art galleries. Whilst the emphasis is on the written word, some parts of the event include the arts, theatre, film, music and talks by famous people such as the former boxer,

Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...

, hip-hop artist Akala, 80's icon

Luke Goss Luke Damon Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English actor, and drummer of the 1980s band Bros. He has appeared in numerous films including ''Blade II'' (2002) as Jared Nomak, ''One Night with the King'' (2006) as King Xerxes, '' Hellboy II ...

and former footballer

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to cent ...

. In 2018, as a celebration of the 200 years since

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

's birth, the festival installed four stones engraved with specially commissioned poems from four contemporary female writers, at strategic points between Thornton and

Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...

Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English writer. Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a sensitive teenage girl rebelling against convention. Other novels explore gender pola ...

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

have each written a piece of poetry that will adorn the four stones. The stones form a walk which connects the Bronte birthplace at Thornton, with the Bronte Parsonage Museum in

. In 2019, the festival attracted speakers such as

Elif Shafak Elif Shafak ( tr, Elif Şafak, ; born 25 October 1971) is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, political scientist and activist. Shafak writes in Turkish and English, and has published 19 works. She is best known for her n ...

Habib Ali al-Jifri Habib Ali Zain al-Abidin al-Jifri ( ar, الحبيب علي زين العابدين الجفري; born 16 April 1971) is a Yemeni-born Sunni and Sufi Islamic scholar and spiritual educator located in the United Arab Emirates. He is the founder o ...

Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' ...

Lady Leshurr Melesha Katrina O'Garro (born 15 December 1987), known professionally as Lady Leshurr (), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. She is known for her ''Queen's Speech'' series of freestyles, the fourth of which became popular i ...

and

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Ro ...

, attracting an audience of over 70,000 including a free Education Programme which reached over 18,000 young people. Approximately 15 of the 500+ booked speakers pulled out of the event when it was revealed that some of the sponsorship for the festival had come from the Home Office's ''Building a Stronger Britain Together'' programme. One of those who withdrew, journalist Hussein Kesvani, stated that if he had appeared at the festival, then it would have been a conflict of interest. Some of the young Muslims whom he had interviewed "expressed how the expansive counter-extremism programme had affected their ability to express their religious identity".

Events

References

{{reflist

External links

Full programme for 2018BBC video of pupil exchange between Bradford and Hay festivals
Tourist attractions in the City of Bradford Festivals in West Yorkshire Literary festivals in England Bradford