Latest news with #JohnCooperClarke
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bradford Literature Festival CEO says no topic is off limits
Multi-culturalism, the Israel-Palestine conflict and freedom of expression are among the topics due to be discussed at this year's Bradford Literature on 27 June, the annual event will be held in venues across the city, and feature panel discussions, lectures and workshops over 10 the guests due to appear at the event are poet John Cooper Clarke, broadcaster Mishal Husain and actor Larry co-founder Syima Aslam said: "We are rooted in books, but I always say there is nothing in the world that there isn't a book about so there is nothing that we can't talk about." Ms Aslam, who grew up in Bradford, launched the festival in 2014 with a view to making literature accessible to the city's diverse 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 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.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Poets, politicians and TV personalities announced for Bradford Literature Festival
LEGENDARY poet John Cooper Clarke, BBC broadcaster Mishal Hussain and food critic Grace Dent are among the acts announced for this year's Bradford Literature Festival. Politician Jeremy Corbyn, Gavin and Stacey Legend Larry Lamb, Islamic scholar Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and TV presenter Katie Piper will also be in the city for events during the ten day literary event which runs from June 27 to July 6. The event will take place at venues throughout Bradford city centre, and this year's festival will be the first since swathes of the centre were transformed by new pedestrian areas and green space. This year's programme builds on record-breaking momentum from 2024, when over 155,000 attendees from 24 countries took part in 699 events, a 34 per cent rise in attendance from the previous year. This year's festival will be particularly special – falling right in the middle of Bradford's year as City of Culture. Headliners for 2025 include: • John Cooper Clarke, the legendary punk poet, who will reflect on his extraordinary life before delivering a blistering live reading of his most iconic work. • Grace Dent, in conversation with Nisha Katona, launching the Big Tasty Read, a national celebration of food, literature and community. • Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, one of the world's leading Islamic scholars, appearing in a landmark event exploring compassion and sacred history. • Katie Piper, who shares her empowering new book on ageing, resilience, and redefining life's milestones. • Mishal Husain, BBC broadcaster and journalist, who will discuss her powerful new memoir Broken Threads, tracing her family's journey through empire, independence, and identity across India, Pakistan, and Britain. Other guests during the festival include broadcaster Steph McGovern, journalist and activist Ash Sarkar, politician Jeremy Corbyn, actor Larry Lamb, comedian Jessica Fostekew, poet, academic and musician Anthony Joseph, and comedian, actor and writer, Robin Ince. The crowd at Bradford Literature Festival (Image: Bradford Literature Festival) Issues being discussed at the festival include Gaza 2040: Imagining the Future, Freedom of Expression: Who Gets to Speak?, Islamophobia Now, and The Great Unravelling: Democracy & Development in the Age of Populism. Key themes include Art and Architecture, Faith, Mysticism and Philosophy, Poetry, Neurodiversity, History, Nature and Citizenship as well as programming around 250 Years of Jane Austen. Doha Debates returns to BLF for a second year with a town hall discussion on the future of national identity and the nation state, with Wael Hallaq, Shashi Tharoor, David Engels and moderated by Malika Bilal. Beyond the talks and panels there will be numerous events open to the public, from exhibitions and comedy nights to heritage walking tours and live performances and film screenings. These include four free family fun days in City Park, superhero storytelling and manga drawing workshops, behind-the-scenes TV writing masterclasses and a screening of David Attenborough's Ocean with a talk from co-creator Colin Butfield. This year's festival will also feature a selection of book launches, including Liz Mistry's Deadly Reckoning, the latest instalment in the Solanki and McQueen crime series, and Pauline Brown's Diego's Team, a tale of kindness, courage and alpacas. Founder and Artistic Director Syima Aslam said: 'Bradford Literature Festival was founded on the belief that culture is not a luxury—it's a necessity. 'At a moment rich with possibility for reimagining how we live, learn, and listen to one another, we remain committed to offering space for reflection, dialogue, and creativity. 'This year's programme is our most ambitious yet: a bold, joyful, and deeply thoughtful celebration of ideas, imagination, and identity. 'BLF continues to be shaped by the communities we serve—international in scope, proudly rooted in Bradford, and grounded in the principle that everyone deserves access to culture, no matter who they are or where they come from. This year, we are also especially proud to celebrate Bradford's designation as the UK City of Culture 2025—an accolade that reflects the vibrant cultural landscape and creative energy the festival has helped to nurture and shape over the years.' Over the past 11 years, BLF has hosted 3,484 events, welcomed 3,544 artists, and reached nearly 710,000 people. For more information on this year's event and to book tickets, visit
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
One To Watch: Freya Beer, music's new glam-goth poet
I first wanted to be a country music star,' says Freya Beer, which is something of a surprise given her Louise Brooks via Morticia Addams look. 'My parents played Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash and that's where my love for music began. But then I was bought Horses by Patti Smith in my early teens and that changed everything… music and poetry.' Smith makes more sense as an influence than Dolly Parton for this rising star musician and poet, who is sitting backstage at the London Palladium ready to support John Cooper Clarke. The poems she reads that night on a huge stage to a pretty blokey crowd are personal, vulnerable stories about womanhood and each one feels like a little victory. On record, her persona becomes much louder, her songs melodic-alternative rock of the Garbage or Joan Jett variety. And while her heroes remain poetic outlaws like Dylan Thomas, the aim is to hit the charts with her music. She describes it as having a 'smoky kind of mood', and her new single Cry Baby certainly has that 1950s B-movie glamour to it. 'I really like when you listen to Lana Del Rey's music, you're transported into her world because she's created this whole aesthetic. For Cry Baby I was really inspired by David Lynch's film Wild at Heart.' Beer was born in Ealing but grew up in Dorset, and wrote songs alongside her poetry. When she was a student she interviewed the aforementioned Clarke in Salisbury — 'just after the Novichok poisonings, it was very dead and eerie' — his manager listened to her demos and she recorded her first single, Dear Sweet Rosie. A move from Dorset back to Ealing followed, where she found a new music scene and pulled a band together. Despite her growing poetry and music following, she also finds the time to do her own show on Islington Radio, called Goth Disco. Recently she presented an episode from a bird hide and has interviewed Chris Packham about getting people into nature for the good of their mental health. Which doesn't sound very goth. 'I wouldn't say I'm a goth,' she insists. 'But maybe I'm giving a new perspective on it. I do like 'goth disco' as a term.' Indeed, any labels being thrown her way aren't really getting to her. As she heads off further into the creation of her own world, she says outside noise becomes irrelevant: 'No matter what you do in your career, there's always going to be someone or something which will try to stop you pursuing your dreams. I think accepting that I can't please everyone is really important.' Freya Beer's new single Cry Baby is out now and she is currently on tour, playing The Shacklewell Arms on July 11,
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
John Cooper Clarke: 'A national treasure? I hate that'
John Cooper Clarke is about to become the first poet to headline a UK arena, and is responsible for the lyrics to one of the world's most streamed songs of recent years. But he has lost none of the sharp-tongued vitriol of his punk a sizeable portion of the nation, Clarke's 50-year stream of biting beat poetry and kitchen sink stand-up comedy should qualify him for national treasure horrified at the suggestion."I hate that," he shoots back. "I think it sounds like you're knocking on heaven's door."National treasure? Shnational shmeasure. Nah, I hate that. National treasure? Not while I'm alive. Not unless it comes with a generous stipend. Then I'll think about it."This invective is delivered with a sneer, a wink, and finally a cackle of only stipend in his line of work is the antiquated allowance that's given to the poet laureate."What do you get for that, poet laureate? £70 a year and a barrel of sherry? Not interested." He cackles loudly again. Clarke has been too rebellious a figure to be considered for poet laureate and its sherry-based salary, and at the age of 76 he argues he still has time to disqualify himself from being a fully paid-up national treasure."I could yet blot my copy book. I'm that foul-mouthed [person] that you've come to dredge up some grudging affection for, but I may yet do the wrong thing."For someone who has always gone against the grain, and occasionally off the rails, it is hard to imagine what he could do now to diminish his status, honour the Salford-born wordsmith has agreed to accept is the 2025 Northern Music Award, which he will receive at a ceremony in Liverpool on Thursday. Although not strictly a musician, Clarke is closely associated with the music scene - from punk to the Arctic Monkeys, who turned his 1982 poem I Wanna Be Yours into a song that was the closing track on their 2013 album AM. It was never officially released as a single but has since gone on to be streamed nearly three billion times by music fans and ranks among Spotify's all-time Top 40. Many of Clarke's poems were originally released with musical backings masterminded by producer Martin Hannett, who was known for his work with Joy has mixed feelings about the results."It was never my idea to put my poetry to music but I couldn't think of an argument against it," he says."So it was a new adventure for me, but I think the results were patchy. When it was good, it was great. But I'm hyper-critical of my own stuff."It wasn't my idea, that's all I'm saying, but I'm glad I did it now. It's put me in line for this award, for a start." Hostile punk gigs Two days after that ceremony, Clarke will achieve another landmark moment when he headlines Manchester's Co-op Live arena, albeit with a scaled-back set-up compared with its full 23,500 he ever performed in an arena? "I've done outdoor shows that I suppose qualify as an arena," he says. "But I've never done an arena with a lid on it like this one before."It will be a far cry from the cabaret clubs where he started out in the city in the 60s, and the punk nights where he made his name in the 70s, after winning over hostile fans who initially aimed spit and bottles in his what's more intimidating - playing to a small room of punks, or an arena with thousands of people?"The more the merrier," he replies. "If you're selling tickets for a living, the more the merrier." 'Somebody up there likes me' He performed live with Joy Division, the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, The Fall and Elvis Costello, achieving cult status with social-realist poems like Beasley Street and Evidently Chickentown, the antisocial I Don't Wanna Be Nice, and the more surrealist (I Married A) Monster From Outer Space and Valley of the Lost Clarke's stream of consciousness dried up as he fell into heroin addiction in the 80s. He says he almost died as a result, and was fortunate to make it through those years."Well, I died four times. I came back but medical action was called for. I'm the luckiest guy alive. Somebody up there likes me." Clarke eventually got clean after meeting his wife Evie, and his professional revival really began when Evidently Chickentown was used over the end credits of an episode in the final season of The Sopranos in poets, comedians and musicians lined up to hail his influence in a 2012 BBC documentary, with Steve Coogan speaking about his "spirit of dissent", and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, calling him "my hero".Turner turned him into Britain's most listened-to poet by using his words in the Arctic Monkeys' 2013 song I Wanna Be original I Wanna Be Yours is a rare example in Clarke's catalogue of an unabashed love poem, albeit an unconventional one. "I wanna be your vacuum cleaner, breathing in your dust / I wanna be your Ford Cortina, I will never rust," it begins. Wedding favourite Clarke originally released the poem on record with a kitsch musical backing in 1982."It should have been done like Alex does it from the start," he says. "I mean, that is the definitive version. I love it."The Arctics' version continues to strike a chord with a new generation and last year it had more streams around the world than any other track over a decade the poem has also become a popular choice as a wedding reading."I'd be a billionaire if I had a quid for every person that recited that poem at their wedding," Clarke may not have that income stream, but he will have got a fraction of a penny for each of the song's three billion streams."It adds up, and then there's the PRS [royalties]," he says."So I'm not complaining. For a change." He lets out another loud Cooper Clarke plays Manchester's Co-op Live arena on Saturday, 29 March.
