Bradford Literature Festival

Bradford Literature Festival
Status Active
Genre Festival
Begins Late June
Ends Early July (variable dates)
Frequency Annually
Location(s) Bradford, West Yorkshire
Country England
Years active 4
Inaugurated 2014
Founders Syima Aslam
Irna Quresh
Most recent 2018
Attendance 50,000 (2017)
Website Official website

The Bradford Literature Festival (sometimes abbreviated to BLF)[1] is a spoken and written word event that promotes literature and is held for ten days annually over June and July in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The first event was held in 2014 and was attended by 968 people; by the time of the 2017 event, the attendance had risen to over 50,000. The event is also noted for its attendance by minority groups and writers.

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, the Arts Council and the National Lottery.[2][3] 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 festivals. The 2016 event was held in late May of that year.[4] The festival is a series of events held at different locations across the Bradford District including bookshops, schools, colleges, the Alhambra, Bradford City Hall and art galleries.[5] Whilst the emphasis is on the written word, some parts of the event include the arts, theatre, film, music[6] and talks by famous people such as the former boxer, Frank Bruno, who in 2018 talked about his life and mental illness at the closing Sunday of the festival.[7]

A comic-con event in 2017 was so successful that organisers brought it back for the 2018 event bigger than the year before.[8]

In 2018, as a celebration of the 200 years since Emily Brontë's birth, the festival installed four stones with text about the Brontë's at strategic points between Thornton and Haworth.[9] Jeanette Winterson, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Kate Bush have each written a piece of poetry that will adorn the four stones.[10]

Events

Date Attendance No of events Notable people Notes
2014 968 24 [6][11]
15–24 May 2015 11,000 150 Shabnam Khan, Brian Patten, Sukina Owen-Douglas [6][12]
20–29 May 2016 32,000 200 Carol Anne Duffy, Nadiya Hussain, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi [13][14][15]
30 June–9 July 2017 50,0000 300 Jeanette Winterson, Joanna Trollope, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Germaine Greer [14][16][17]
29 June–8 July 2018 400 Frank Bruno, Suzi Quatro, Kate Bush [14][18][19][20]

References

  1. ↑ "An Evaluation of Social Return using Willingness to Pay" (PDF). providentfinancial.com. December 2017. p. 4. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Armitstead, Claire (26 June 2017). "Brontes, Bradford and Buddhist poetry - meet the women transforming the literary festival". The Guardian. p. 12. ISSN 0261-3077.
  3. ↑ Wilde, Claire (6 February 2015). "Bradford wins extra Arts Council funding". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  4. ↑ "Bradford Literature Festival - University of Bradford". www.bradford.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Helen (12 June 2018). "Bradford Literature Festival: Everything you need to know about this year's literary extravaganza". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Festival review: Bradford Literature Festival". The Yorkshire Post. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
  7. ↑ Jalal, Sabah (7 July 2018). "Top author and former heavyweight boxing champion to appear at Bradford Literature Festival". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  8. ↑ Penston, Rebecca (1 July 2017). "Bradford Literature Festival". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Knights, David (3 April 2018). "Brontës at Bradford Lit Festival". Keighley News. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Lauren (26 April 2018). "Kate Bush to write a new tribute to Emily Bronte". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Bradford Literature Festival 2018 Programme Announcement @ University of Bradford Union of Students". www.bradfordunisu.co.uk. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "Bradford Literature Festival pays tribute to JB Priestley's works". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Stelfox, Hilarie (16 May 2016). "Will freshly-baked star Nadiya rise to the challenge at Bradford festival?". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 Young, Chris (12 October 2017). "Record number of 50,000 take part in Bradford Literature Festival". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  15. ↑ Clayton, Emma (20 May 2016). "BRADFORD LITERATURE FESTIVAL: From pirates to a Poet Laureate - looking ahead to the first weekend of Bradford Literature Festival". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  16. ↑ "What's happening in the literary world". The Sunday Times. 4 June 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2018. (Subscription required (help)).
  17. ↑ Young, Chris (29 June 2017). "FULL SCHEDULE: Over 300 events taking place for Bradford Literature Festival". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  18. ↑ Young, Chris (12 June 2018). "University to play major role in Bradford Literature Festival". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  19. ↑ Young, Chris (19 May 2018). "Festival details launched". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Young, Chris (19 May 2018). "Festival details launched". Craven Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
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