Latest news with #IrvineWelsh
BBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Irvine Welsh among Ilkley Literature Festival stars
The writer Irvine Welsh, actor Hugh Bonneville, comedian Michael Palin and former politician Nick Clegg have been confirmed as household names who will appear at this year's Ilkley Literature Festival. The annual event takes place over 17 days starting on 3 October and will cover themes ranging from the dangers of big tech to cooking and the Post Office scandal. Other names who will be discussing their latest work include Wild Swans author Jung Chang, poet laureate Simon Armitage and "festival favourite" Gyles Brandreth. Festival director Erica Morris told the BBC: "Bradford has an incredibly rich history of literary excellence and we are highlighting not only the people who come here from other parts of the UK and the world but the the homegrown talent - which is immense." Comedian Alan Davies will be sharing his journey in the world of comedy with his latest memoir White Male Stand-Up, while Queen of Shops retail expert Mary Portas will take guests "behind the shop window" with I Shop, Therefore I Am. Paddington and Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville will be introducing his first children's book, Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room, while Brandreth will discuss his book Somewhere, A Boy and A Bear, which marks the centenary of the publication of Winnie the The Dark Side of the Internet theme, journalist James Bloodworth shares his experiences investigating the toxic subcultures of the "manosphere" and Dr Kaitlyn Regehr will explain why screen addiction is on the rise and how we can quit our phones. Ilkley Literature Festival has been going since 1973 and the very first one was opened by the legendary poet W.H. Auden - author of Funeral Blues. Ms Morris said: "From the very earliest days, Ilkley was called - rather condescendingly - an 'outpost of progress' because it brought incredible writers and thinkers and artists to a relatively small Yorkshire town, back when the only other literature festival in the country was Cheltenham. "It was very innovative right from the get-go and incredibly expansive in the subjects that it raised and the kind of writers that it included."Other well-known faces include Sir Tony Robinson introducing his fiction debut and broadcasters Edward Stourton, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Welsh will be discussing the sequel to his bestseller Trainspotting. Men in Love picks up the story Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie in a new era as they head into rave and romance in the late "big ideas" up for discussion include how to save the planet in a climate crisis, explorations in philosophy and the science of asked who she is particularly excited to see, Ms Morris replied: "Nick Clegg." She added: "I think Nick will be a really interesting person to to hear from and I think he's probably going to get some really interesting questions from our audience as well."Tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 26 August, with priority bookings open for Friends of the Festival from Wednesday 20 August. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Arab News
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Writers demand boycott of Israel until Gaza receives sufficient aid
LONDON: A group of more than 200 writers in the UK have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Israel. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ The letter, which demands ties be severed with Israel until sufficient aid supplies are delivered to Gaza, comes after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned that famine was gripping the Palestinian enclave. Israel imposed a blockade in Gaza in March following the collapse of a ceasefire between the Israeli government and Hamas. Shipments of aid restarted in May, but 197 people have now died in Gaza of hunger-related conditions since the outbreak of hostilities on Oct. 7, 2023. Signatories include Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh, Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot and Geoff Dyer, among others. In the letter, the writers 'call on all people, institutions, governments and states to observe an immediate and complete boycott of all forms of trade, exchange and business with the state of Israel until the people of Gaza are adequately provided with drinking water, food and medical supplies, and until all other forms of relief and necessity are restored to the people of Gaza under the aegis of the United Nations.' The letter was co-organized by Horatio Clare, who was also behind another letter in March signed by writers accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. In the new letter, the signatories said: 'We make this call because the words and feelings of millions of people and thousands of politicians worldwide have failed to bring about the feeding of the people of Gaza, the protection of civilians or their supply with humanitarian and medical aid. 'We regret that this boycott affects a great many individuals and groups in Israel and other countries who share our rejection of the policies of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu; individuals and groups whose pain and compassion for the people of Gaza we share.' The signatories said that the boycott should stay in place until the civilian population of Gaza is judged to be 'safe and in receipt of adequate food and aid' by the UN. They called for the 'return of all hostages and those imprisoned without charge or trial on all sides,' an 'end to settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank' and 'the immediate and permanent ceasefire and cessation of violence by Hamas and Israel. 'We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Palestinian, Jewish and Israeli people to the genocidal policies of the current Israeli government,' the writers added. 'We note that prominent and respected Israeli and Jewish groups in Israel and other countries, including many of our fellow writers, have recently called for serious and impactful sanctions on Israeli institutions, to which we add, on, and only on, objectively culpable individuals. A boycott is the only sanction an individual can apply. 'In calling for and observing this boycott, we assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice. 'We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence — in writing, speech and action — against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form.'
The Guardian
07-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson sign letter calling for Israel boycott
Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson are among more than 200 writers who have signed a letter calling for an 'immediate and complete' boycott of Israel until the people of Gaza are given adequate food, water and aid. Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot, Benjamin Myers, Geoff Dyer and Sarah Hall also signed the letter, which advocates the cessation of all 'trade, exchange and business' with Israel. Hunger-related deaths in Gaza have risen to 197, following last week's alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative that 'the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip'. In early March Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, preventing food, water and medical supplies from entering the territory. In mid-May, after growing international pressure, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said shipments would restart. However, records from Cogat, the Israeli agency that controls aid shipments into Gaza, show that the quantity of aid reaching the territory in May and June fell well below subsistence levels. The writers 'call on all people, institutions, governments and states to observe an immediate and complete boycott of all forms of trade, exchange and business with the state of Israel until the people of Gaza are adequately provided with drinking water, food and medical supplies, and until all other forms of relief and necessity are restored to the people of Gaza under the aegis of the United Nations'. The letter, which was organised by the writers Horatio Clare and Sean Murray, has 207 signatories, including Laline Paull, Patrick Gale, Michel Faber and Marina Warner. It follows a May letter signed by hundreds of writers, also co-organised by Clare, stating that Israel's attacks on Gaza amount to genocide. The new letter reads: 'We make this call because the words and feelings of millions of people and thousands of politicians worldwide have failed to bring about the feeding of the people of Gaza, the protection of civilians or their supply with humanitarian and medical aid. 'We regret that this boycott affects a great many individuals and groups in Israel and other countries who share our rejection of the policies of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu; individuals and groups whose pain and compassion for the people of Gaza we share.' The writers propose that the boycott remains in place until the UN declares the civilian population of Gaza 'is safe and in receipt of adequate food and aid'. The letter also demands the 'return of all hostages and those imprisoned without charge or trial on all sides', an 'end to settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank' and 'the immediate and permanent ceasefire and cessation of violence by Hamas and Israel'. Campaign groups have been calling for boycotts against Israel for decades, with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, established in 2005, encouraging economic, cultural and academic boycotts. 'We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Palestinian, Jewish and Israeli people to the genocidal policies of the current Israeli government', the letter states. 'We note that prominent and respected Israeli and Jewish groups in Israel and other countries, including many of our fellow writers, have recently called for serious and impactful sanctions on Israeli institutions, to which we add, on, and only on, objectively culpable individuals. A boycott is the only sanction an individual can apply. 'In calling for and observing this boycott, we assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice. 'We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence – in writing, speech and action – against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form.' The letter concludes: 'The children of Gaza, like all children, are the children of all of us, and the future of our world. In their name, we call for and observe this boycott.'
The Guardian
07-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson sign letter calling for Israel boycott
Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson are among more than 200 writers who have signed a letter calling for an 'immediate and complete' boycott of Israel until the people of Gaza are given adequate food, water and aid. Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot, Benjamin Myers, Geoff Dyer and Sarah Hall also signed the letter, which advocates the cessation of all 'trade, exchange and business' with Israel. Hunger-related deaths in Gaza have risen to 197, following last week's alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative that 'the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip'. In early March Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, preventing food, water and medical supplies from entering the territory. In mid-May, after growing international pressure, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said shipments would restart. However, records from Cogat, the Israeli agency that controls aid shipments into Gaza, show that the quantity of aid reaching the territory in May and June fell well below subsistence levels. The writers 'call on all people, institutions, governments and states to observe an immediate and complete boycott of all forms of trade, exchange and business with the state of Israel until the people of Gaza are adequately provided with drinking water, food and medical supplies, and until all other forms of relief and necessity are restored to the people of Gaza under the aegis of the United Nations'. The letter, which was organised by the writers Horatio Clare and Sean Murray, has 207 signatories, including Laline Paull, Patrick Gale, Michel Faber and Marina Warner. It follows a May letter signed by hundreds of writers, also co-organised by Clare, stating that Israel's attacks on Gaza amount to genocide. The new letter reads: 'We make this call because the words and feelings of millions of people and thousands of politicians worldwide have failed to bring about the feeding of the people of Gaza, the protection of civilians or their supply with humanitarian and medical aid. 'We regret that this boycott affects a great many individuals and groups in Israel and other countries who share our rejection of the policies of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu; individuals and groups whose pain and compassion for the people of Gaza we share.' The writers propose that the boycott remains in place until the UN declares the civilian population of Gaza 'is safe and in receipt of adequate food and aid'. The letter also demands the 'return of all hostages and those imprisoned without charge or trial on all sides', an 'end to settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank' and 'the immediate and permanent ceasefire and cessation of violence by Hamas and Israel'. Campaign groups have been calling for boycotts against Israel for decades, with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, established in 2005, encouraging economic, cultural and academic boycotts. 'We stand in solidarity with the resistance of Palestinian, Jewish and Israeli people to the genocidal policies of the current Israeli government', the letter states. 'We note that prominent and respected Israeli and Jewish groups in Israel and other countries, including many of our fellow writers, have recently called for serious and impactful sanctions on Israeli institutions, to which we add, on, and only on, objectively culpable individuals. A boycott is the only sanction an individual can apply. 'In calling for and observing this boycott, we assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice. 'We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence – in writing, speech and action – against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form.' The letter concludes: 'The children of Gaza, like all children, are the children of all of us, and the future of our world. In their name, we call for and observe this boycott.'
Scotsman
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Leith Social Club: Working-class Edinburgh boozer reopens with 90s vibe
A new Edinburgh pub which celebrates 80s and 90s culture will open its doors for the first time tomorrow – with upcoming events including a DJ set by Irvine Welsh and a talk with Oasis' record producer. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Located on Great Junction Street, the Leith Social Club replaces the former working-class boozer Tam O' Shanter which closed for refurbishment in May. The new bar, which will be open seven days a week, has been 'reimagined with authenticity and edge' to create a 'cultural time capsule' paying homage to yesteryear. The Leith Social Club at 39 Great Junction Street, Edinburgh opens at 8pm on Thursday, August 7 | Leith Social Club Featuring nostalgic interiors, a LaserDisc jukebox and a Burberry concept pool table, the new design was a collaboration with hospitality vanguard Mike Baxter who said the concept was a love letter to the decades which shaped his youth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mike said: 'When the team approached me to take on the Tam O'Shanter, I thought we should take a gamble – Leith doesn't need another speakeasy. What I wanted to do was to celebrate the culture and community and reimagine the local pub for a modern audience. 'I didn't want to fake it. I lived through the 90s in bars like this. I wanted something that felt real. Inspired by The Face magazine, with live music, classic DJ sets, a great pint, and killer art. A place for Gen Z, Gen X, and everyone in between.' The upcoming entertainment schedule includes an appearance from The View's Kyle Faulkner who will be playing his favourites from the band's repertoire on August 13, and a DJ set from Irvine Welsh on August 16 to launch the pub's Acid House Saturdays. | Leith Social Club Opening on Thursday, August 7, the Leith Social Club team plan to host 'proper' pub quizzes, live podcast chats with icons of the era, live acoustic sessions and acid house nights. The pub will also host darts and pool competitions and launch Sunday sessions which 'are set to become legendary'. Taking inspiration from the 'Cool Britannia' era, the jukebox features a top 20 picked by the Happy Mondays' Bez, who visited the venue on August 3 to host a one-off DJ set. And to mark the arrival of Oasis in Edinburgh, the bar has curated a calendar of events to celebrate. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On Thursday, Oasis record producer Owen Morris will share wild stories from the studio in an intimate, ticketed event prior to the pub welcoming the public from 8pm. There will also be a Noel Gallagher experience to enjoy, alongside The Oasis Exhibition held in collaboration with Bittersweet Home runs from August 8-12 and will raise funds for Maggie's. Bez from the Happy Mondays visited the Leith Social Club on August 3 where he played a live DJ set. | Leith Social Club Kyle Dale, Bittersweet Home director, said: 'From a Manchester council estate to global fame - this exhibition celebrates the history of the biggest band since The Beatles. Our unique Oasis experience covers every release, item, image, and story from 1992-2009, to current day solo projects - including the largest collection of band-used instruments and stage equipment ever put together in one place.' The Leith Social Club in Edinburgh will open 8pm on Thursday, August 7. Usual hours will be 11am to late. The upcoming entertainment schedule includes an appearance from The View's Kyle Faulkner who will be playing his favourites from the band's repertoire on August 13, and a DJ set from Irvine Welsh on August 16 to launch the pub's Acid House Saturdays.
