Culture: We’ve Got Buckets Of It In Yorkshire – Samrana Hussain finds some of the biggest literary names in one of Yorkshire’s smallest towns …
On its 40th anniversary the Ilkley Literature Festival 2013 showcases all that is good about multi-cultural Britain.
Award-winning authors such as Nadeem Aslam combine with heavy-hitters like Jonathan Dimbleby to provide the perfect antidote to the start of a cold and wet winter.
The festival was opened up by Dimbleby on Friday. He delighted the audience with tall tales of Chruchill and Rommel and their role in the battle of El Alamein; taken from his book ‘Destiny in the Desert,’ about a key campaign in Egypt in the Second World War.
With references to his father Richard Dimbleby, BBC radio news’ first war correspondent, and quotes from Churchill it was suited to a more mature palate than mine.
However, the end of the session brought home to me, how the retelling of history helps make that all important connection from past to present. In the final few minutes during the Q&A session a member of the audience thanked Dimbleby for his book about the campaign, having recently found a chest of letters in his attic written from his father to his mother about his time in the battle.
It was a well-crafted and entertaining way to spend an hour, even if it was proceeded by me slipping on the wet moss in the car park of the Craiglands Hotel.
One of the best things about literature festivals is discovering new authors or those new to me. The work of South Asian writers like Aslam – born in Pakistan but brought up here in Huddersfield – resonates strongly with me as a second-generation Pakistani.
His books, set in Pakistan and Afghanistan, have a rare depth of poetry and prose which open up a different world, allowing the reader to cross cultural boundaries.
His novels have won numerous awards including the Kiriyama and Encore prizes (the former recognises books that contribute to a better understanding of the Pacific Rim and South Asia). Off the back of the festival I’ve ordered his latest book ‘The Blind Man’s Garden’ and can’t wait to get stuck into it.
Slips and trips aside, the festival is an eclectic mix of speakers covering a variety of subjects to suit all tastes, including women’s writing, the world of Jane Austen, black literature and Horsforth’s very own Brownlee brothers for sport lovers.
The festival runs from 4 to October 20 at various venues in and around the centre of the very Yorkshire town of Ilkley. Additional information can be found at ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk.
Tags: Jonathan Dimbleby, Nadeem Aslam, Ilkley Literature Festival 2013, Craiglands Hotel, El Alamein
Ilkley’s internationally renowned literature festival punches above its weight, as Samrana Hussain finds some of the biggest names in one of Yorkshire’s smallest towns.