Welcome to Elaine Roberts with another in her interesting series about
literary festivals and workshops.
This month I have interviewed Georgina
Lennon and Syima Aslam from the Bradford Literature Festival. Welcome to the
RNA blog.
Can you tell us something about your festival,
how it came about and how long its been running?
The
Bradford Literature Festival (BLF) is an international festival based in
Bradford, the heart of Yorkshire and, the literature hub of the North. Hailed
as one of the most inspirational festivals in the UK, BLF is fast becoming a
key event in the UK's cultural calendar. Over 10 days, our events celebrate the
written and spoken word on the page, stage, screen, and in public forums,
offering ideas
 |
| Joanna Trollope |
The Bradford Literature Festival, in association with Provident
Financial Group, returns for its third edition from 30 June until 9 July
2017, celebrating the written and spoken word in all its
 |
| Milly Johnson |
2017
will also see the return of the festival’s iconic free family day events in
Bradford’s City Park, with themes including superheroes, fairy tales, myths
& legends, bears and, of course, Harry Potter. With an exciting line up of
performances, workshops and film screenings, the festival will take over the
city centre creating a literary themed wonderland of fun for all the family.
Who are your main speakers this year?
This
year’s festival features an unrivalled range of participants, including authors
Germaine Greer, Joanna Trollope, Vivian French, John Boyne, Juno Dawson, Shems Freidlander and A.A Dhand; poets Jackie Kay, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Ben Okri, Lemn Sissay and
Anthony Anaxogorou; politicians such
as Baroness Syeeda Warsi, Harriet Harman and Rachel Reeves; and international journalists including Jenni Murray, Mona Eltahawy, Christina
Lamb, Boyd Tonkin and Gary Younge. BBC Radio
1's Gemma Cairney, YA author Melvyn Burgess, racing car driver and
ex host of Top Gear Tiff Needle and
Indian Politician Shashi Tharoor.
As our blog is for writers can you tell me how
your festival would benefit our members?
Each
year the festival programmes a whole host of events dedicated to ‘The Art of
Writing and
 |
| Ben Okri |
Politics of Publishing’, this is everything from expert panel
discussions on particular genres, to writing workshops and insider information
from publishers and literary agents. This year the strand will feature industry
related events such as ‘The Politics of Indie Publishing,’ ‘Book Bidding Wars’
and ‘Meet the Literary Agent’; workshops such as ‘Opinion Writing’, ‘How Not to
Write Bad Sex’, ‘Writing and Thriving in the Digital Age’, and ‘Writing and
Publishing Picture Books for Children’; as well as genre focused events which
will look at everything from crime writing and journaling to erotic literature. There’s
something for all writers at the Bradford Literature Festival, whether they
would like practical information to improve their own writing and to help them
get published, or to explore new genres and hear from experts who are already
thriving in the literary world.
Is there anything to enter (maybe a writing competition),
if so could details be provided?
How about staying over for the whole event.
Where can people stay?
 |
| Jeanette Winterson |
We are proud to have the Midland Hotel as the festival’s hotel partner. Dating
back to the 1890s, the historic hotel was built by the Midland Railway Company
at the height of Bradford’s global influence, and became the natural choice for
rich and famous visitors. The hotel’s imposing façade and stunning Victorian
interiors have attracted guests such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles
and Laurel & Hardy as well as literary legends such as Bram Stoker. The Midland Hotel offers special rates for festival goers
if booking accommodation for nights between 30th June – 09th July. Please
mention the festival when making a booking.
There are a vast range of accommodation options in
Bradford to suit all different tastes and price ranges. For a full list of
hotels and B&B’s please take a look at the Visit Bradford accommodation pages at
http://www.visitbradford.com/accommodation/
What does it cost to attend?
The festival is committed to making all its events
as inclusive and accessible as possible, which is why our ticket prices remain
low and many of our events are free. All our family fun day events are free of
charge and open to the public, we also offer a range of free children’s events
throughout the festival. Standard ticket
prices for range from £6 for the vast majority of events to £10 for multiple
line-up events. The only exception is our full day ‘Bronte Heritage Tour’
priced at £35
We also offer discounted and free tickets to the
following groups: registered disabled, over 65s,
students, benefits recipients or those living in social housing and
refugees.
Do workshops/talks fill up quickly?
Many of our
annual events have become extremely popular and as the festival has grown our
audience has also increased dramatically, therefore and we would always advise
that interested parties book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
How much time does it take to organise the
festival?
Organising
the festival is an intense, year-round process. We often say that it’s
impossible to understand until you have lived through a full festival year and
seen the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. We are lucky
to have some fantastic sponsors such as our Title Partner, Provident Financial
Group, and support from Arts Council England, Bradford MDC and the University
of Bradford, without whom it would be impossible to create an event of this
scale and quality. We also rely
on a dedicated team of volunteers to make the festival happen, our volunteering
scheme is currently open for applicants and more information can be found on
the festival website.
Dates for this year and next:
30th
June – 9th July 2017
29th
June – 8th July 2018
Link to website
www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk
Email for queries
About Elaine Roberts:
Elaine is a
member of the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and the SWWJ and is currently working
on a family saga. She has sold short stories worldwide and enjoys attending RNA
events such as the London chapter and our annual conference. Elaine is a great
fan of writing retreats either week long by the sea with friends or one-day
retreats with fellow writers in her hometown of Dartford. Elaine runs a writing
blog along with writer, Francesca Capaldi Burgess called WriteMindWritePlace.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to the
RNA blog. We wish the festival every success.
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