Bradford Literature Festival CEO says no topic is off limits
Ms Aslam, who grew up in Bradford, launched the festival in 2014 with a view to making literature accessible to the city's diverse population.She said she wanted to overcome the financial barriers for people in Bradford, as well as other cities in the UK, which stopped many from enjoying cultural events."We have to recognise that those barriers are real, with the cost of living and all of those things," Ms Aslam said."One of the tests that I've always applied to the festival is if you're a single mum with four kids to feed, are you going to feed them or are they going to come to the festival?"So, we've done a lot of work in that area to ensure that's not the case."
Bradford Literature Festival is a Community Interest Company, which means it exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.Ms Aslam said: "Having a festival that is openly accessible to everyone, that everyone feels they can take part in and there are no financial barriers is really, really important."I don't think we can talk about wanting everyone to engage in culture and not think about the barriers that actually mean they may not be able to."So, for us it's a founding principle and it's one of the foundations that we are built on."The full programme is due to be published on the Bradford Literature Festival in the coming weeks.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
23 minutes ago
- The Independent
Increased betting tax would be a hurdle that horse racing may not overcome
The Treasury is currently consulting over plans to replace the existing structure of online gambling duties, which is comprised of three bands, to a catch-all Remote Betting and Gaming Duty. At present, there is a 15 per cent duty, but there are grave concerns that the government-induced changes could see it brought into line with the rate of tax on games of chance, such as online casino and slot machines, which is six per cent higher. Economic analysis commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority showed that the sport could lose £66m in income through the levy, media rights and sponsorship because bookmakers would be likely to respond by offering inferior-value prices and reduce budgets for such things as marketing and advertising. Horse racing is a sport that is part of the very fabric of British culture. Its two codes, Flat and National Hunt have been supported by monarchs and other royals for centuries. It also courted Sir Keir Starmer, who last September became the first serving Prime Minister since Sir Winston Churchill to attend the St Leger. Now, similar to one of the PM's current political allies, it has had a change of heart and is taking a more combative approach. Racing draws in more spectators annually than every other sport in the nation, except football. It provides jobs for more than 85,000 people. If betting tax levied on the sport is raised, it's been estimated that 2,752 of those jobs will be lost in the first year alone, and this could become an ever-decreasing cycle. As a show of strength and to underline the gravity of their concerns, the whole of the industry has committed to a one-day strike on 10 September, when racing is scheduled to take place at Carlisle, Kempton Park, Lingfield Park and Uttoxeter. For an industry that has so often taken a 'softly, softly' approach to such matters and wanted to keep respective governments onside, it's akin to throwing away the painstakingly prepared form book and, instead, tossing a coin. Will the 'heads' count in the sport be forced to reduce or will ministers turn 'tails' and elect to preserve the status quo? James Hutchinson, the managing director at Ripon racecourse, is clear on why the sport is right to take such action: 'It's important that we get across this message that the current proposals for this betting duty tax will have an enormous effect on British racing and the income into British racing and therefore the amount of money that it raises in terms of levy and the return therefore to racecourses and the return of prize money to owners and trainers. 'From our point of view as a small independent racecourse, we need to be seen to be a strong industry that can support all of its constituent parts and this potential change is going to put many of those at risk and that's not something we want to see. 'I'm in support of the action that's being taken because by doing so we will hopefully be getting across and extremely strong message to government that we feel very strongly about this and the industry is prepared to go to those sort of lengths to show what it means and the effect it could have if the changes take place.' 'I don't think there's any other sporting industry that could be as dramatically affected by the sort of change that the government is proposing.' James Hutchinson, managing director at Ripon racecourse Isn't this, however, racing people expecting the sport to be treated as a special case purely because of its history? Hutchinson disagrees. 'I don't think it's necessarily a special case other than the fact that it has huge heritage. It's been an important part of the culture and the colour of the nation. 'Over five million people go racing every year and to introduce this huge increase could have a major negative impact on the industry. It could effect the amount of racing, the amount of people going racing and it would be a huge loss to the country. 'I don't think there's any other sporting industry that could be as dramatically affected by the sort of change that the government is proposing.' Those involved in the sport are clear about the financial damage that could be inflicted and are similarly unified in their action, although all four tracks that miss out on racing on that date have been offered an alternative fixture on the calendar by the BHA, by way of compensation for those individual events. The government must act in the best interests of a sport that has given the nation great service since before there was a Prime Minister. It should get this enquiry overturned before the provisional result stands, scrap any plans to increase its tax burden and leave this piece of the fabric of our society unfrayed.
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
New proposed powers to control dangerous dogs in Jersey
Changes could be introduced in Jersey to control dogs which are "considered to be dangerous", according to the island's constables have made draft amendments to the Dogs (Jersey) Law 1961 which, if approved, will mean owners of certain breeds, such as the XL Bully, must register them with the States rules about owning XL Bully dogs were introduced across the UK and, since 1 February 2024, it has been a criminal offence to own one without an exemption constables' proposed amendments would include a requirement to neuter the "dangerous dog" and keep it muzzled in a public place. 'Public safety' Officials said owners would not be allowed to breed, sell or give such dogs proposed scheme would also provide that the owner and any person in control of a dog in a public place must be aged 18 or over, they differs from England and Wales, where a person aged 16 and over may be an States Veterinary Officer (SVO) said it was aware of a number of dogs that could fall within the definition of a dangerous dog, officials said, but there were currently no powers to control ownership or to impose conditions to enhance public safety."The Jersey registration scheme will require the SVO to maintain a register of dangerous dogs and it will be an offence to own a dangerous dog unless it is registered with the SVO," it draft law has not been approved yet, but it is aimed at modernising the rules and giving police powers to deal with dangerous dogs. Chief Vet at the States Susana Ramos previously said improvements were needed to the law so that restrictions could be imposed on imports of dangerous dogs when coming from outside Ramos said the current law was "old and not fit for purpose anymore".She added: "The idea of the new law is to allow us to act."The law will give us a little substance to do better than we currently do."
The Sun
24 minutes ago
- The Sun
Heartbreaking moment Tommy Fury's dad John BANS him from seeing baby Bambi on Christmas Day
TOMMY Fury's dad John brutally banned his son from seeing baby daughter Bambi on Christmas Day in his new documentary. John Fury, who is also father of champion boxer Tyson Fury, told Tommy that he doesn't need "distractions" ahead of his big fight. 4 4 4 On Tommy's new BBC doc - The Good, The Bad, The Fury - the father and son duo clashed. John insisted a festive family reunion with his two-year-old daughter would interfere with Tommy's mindset ahead of the fight. In scenes aired on episode two, John said: "The thing we don't want is distractions. People coming. We don't want it. "Because when you're here and you're talking to people you're not resting. You want to be training eat, drink, sleep, train, repeat. "It's six weeks of hell but you've got another four to six weeks to go and to do the other stuff, haven't you? "All that's out there is the pub, alcohol, s*** food and s*** company." Tommy replied: "That's all I ever do anyway. I don't do nothing else my whole life. Train." John said: "I don't know, Tom. You do enjoy yourself, don't you?," "Not really..." Tommy replied. John said: "If you can't sacrifice six weeks of your time without your children, all that s*** in the world outside. What we doing here?" Tommy was not happy with the decision and said 20 minutes with his daughter on Christmas Day would not change his boxing mentality. The former Love Island star said: "I can't see, on Christmas Day, me picking the baby, me saying 'Merry Christmas', I can't see that going to lead me to win a fight or not. "You're not doing that this time," but John demanded. Tommy replied: "But you've got to be happy." John insisted that sacrifices needed to be made in order to win big. Tommy continued: "Yeah, but you just got to go and hug the baby for five minutes. There's no harm in that." His dad hit back "You go back, you have your Christmas, you hold the baby, all of a sudden you get an L on your record for that day. "You will never look at them in the same light again, family or not family because you'll resent them." Tommy said: "20 minutes out of my day on Christmas," to which John added: "The greats don't do it." Speaking to the camera, Tommy explained why his father had such a staunch view on the matter, saying: "My dad doesn't understand the modern world. "And obviously he's just an old school fella and the way the world is today, you know, even I find it hard to live in the world sometimes today, with the amount of bull**** that's going on." Earlier today The Sun revealed the real reason for Molly-Mae's absence from Tommy's BBC show premiere has been revealed. The social media influencer was missing from the launch of his brand new reality TV series which raised eyebrows despite the pair being back together and claiming to be at "they're happiest". Molly also failed to mark the event on social media and shared no posts to support Tommy and his show. MISSING MOLLY But The Sun understands that Molly skipped the event as she was keen to not "overshadow" the launch of Tommy's programme and let him have his own time in the spotlight following their up and down 12 months. A source told The Sun: "Molly is keen to keep a low profile at the moment. "She is obviously back with Tommy but it's his night and doesn't want to overshadow it. "It's been a funny time for Molly - she's very thick skinned but she's had a lot to deal with and isn't used to backlash." A representative for Molly told The Sun that she was "away working" and very busy which caused her to miss the event. Current social media snaps show Molly enjoying a sunny break away with her best pal, Tayla-Blue. The best friend duo could be seen enjoying a relaxing evening by the beach with their children yesterday evening in snaps shared to Tayla's social media feed. One photo showed Molly and her daughter Bambi attempting to take a splash in the sea. Whilst other snaps showed Bambi looking stylish on the beach. For Tommy, he was joined by his parents in Manchester for a screening of BBC show The Good. The Bad. The Fury, which sees him rehash details of their recent split, as well as make a series of shock revelations about it. In the show, he made the shock revelation that he was downing "20 shots a night" and drinking to get "blackout drunk" ahead of their split last year. He said: "The reason for our ending the relationship was alcohol." He added: "I couldn't train, box, lift weights, that was all gone. "My right hand was messed up, I was in dire pain, it's just what happens over years of impact on the hand. "I had lost my entire identity, lost my life." 4
