I’ve been a big fan of Bradford Literature Festival for a number of years. It’s a bright spot in Bradford’s cultural calendar and I’ve written in the past about why I love it. 

In previous years I’ve usually attended a fair few sessions during the annual festival. I’ve loved the variety of subjects on offer, the chance to hear interesting (and well-known) speakers in some marvellous venues, and the opportunity to listen, learn and reflect – and often to be challenged.

This year – as a result of the general uncertainty and a lack of organisation on my part – I attended only two events. But what this year’s festival lacked (from my point of view) in quantity, it certainly made up for in quality.

As a trailblazer – a South Asian woman in a predominately white male industry – Anita talked about the difficulty of negotiating various ‘spaces’ and having to curb aspects of her personality to meet certain expectations. She has clearly thought long and hard about the privileged position in which she now finds herself, about how she could – or should – use that position to carve a path for others, and about her regrets for not speaking out on particular occasions.
​
Many of Anita’s reflections also touched on the personal sphere. She talked about food, family and weddings. She talked about how South Asian girls were mostly not encouraged to speak up, except on the topic of beauty. And she wondered how much the lives of women (particularly those from South Asian backgrounds) have changed since she was growing up.

This was an entertaining and thought-provoking discussion. Anita’s book is now on my reading list.

The setting for Sunday evening’s event was the magnificent ballroom at Bradford’s Midland Hotel. The topic – grief – was a more sombre one than Saturday’s, although there was plenty of light on hand, not least from the amazing chandelier that graces the venue. 

Rev. Richard Coles and Arifa Akba were interviewed by Peg Alexander. ​These were two quite different stories, with some common threads. Richard Coles’ husband, David, died in December 2019 as a result of addiction to alcohol. Arifa Akbar’s sister, Fauzia, died in 2016 from undiagnosed tuberculosis. Both deaths were a shock, yet in some ways not really a shock, perhaps complicating the grief that these two authors have felt since.

There were other common observations – and ones that anyone who has ever been bereaved will recognise. For instance, when someone dies there is a huge amount of ‘admin’ to deal with, sometimes lasting many weeks (or even months). This can, in one sense, be welcomed as something practical to focus on, but it can also be exhausting. Another aspect of grief is the baffling realisation that everyone else is carrying on as normal with their everyday lives, while you’re still dealing with the enormity of your bereavement.

Richard and Arifa each reflected on what had helped them to deal with the grief they felt. As a widow, Richard didn’t appreciate being told by others how he should be feeling and behaving, but did value conversations with other widows who told him how they themselves had felt/behaved, without giving advice. Meanwhile, Arifa noted that the loss of a sibling isn’t as widely recognised as the loss of a spouse is, something that left her feeling rather adrift. Coincidentally, two of her close friends had also lost siblings, so Arifa was able to discuss her feelings with them.

The two authors also discussed addiction and attitudes to it. David’s alcoholism wasn’t public knowledge, so many were shocked by his death. Richard described the strain of living with and caring for an addict: he often went without sleep so that he could make sure David was safe. Arifa described the complex issues associated with her sister’s eating disorder – a type of addiction – including the shocking negative comments made by a member of medical staff.

Arifa and Richard touched on the way in which grief had affected their relationship with art and music, respectively. Fauzia was an artist who had created striking paintings and embroidered art. She had been deeply affected and inspired by the Sistine Chapel, leading Arifa to visit the Vatican after her sister’s death to share that experience and feel a connection with Fauzia. Richard and David had played music together, so Richard had avoided revisiting their shared music after David’s death because it was just too painful. Instead, he had decided to learn to play a new instrument: the accordion.

​And so ended my Bradford Literature Festival 2021. It was brief, it was bright, it was brilliant. I can’t wait for next year…

​I love my work. Every day I spend my time editing non-fiction and academic texts on subjects such as business, education, management and economics. But in my spare time, there’s nothing I like more than getting engrossed in a really good novel.
 
I live in an area with a very strong literary heritage: the Brontë sisters lived in nearby Haworth. A recent event at the Old School Rooms in Haworth gave me a chance to hear how two contemporary novelists, Tracy Chevalier and Maggie O’Farrell, feel a connection with Charlotte Brontë’s most famous work, Jane Eyre.
 
As well as discussing aspects of the novel, including the strong central character and the use of first-person narration, Tracy and Maggie reflected on the nuts and bolts of writing, both in relation to Charlotte Brontë and from their own experiences.
 
For me, one of the most interesting parts of the discussion focused on how the Brontës developed their novels. The sisters would sit together at a table to write, and would take it in turns to walk around the table reading parts of their work aloud. Maggie O’Farrell wondered about the editorial interaction between the sisters. How far did they collaborate during this process? To what extent did they ‘borrow’ from each other’s personal experiences for their own individual writing?
 
Part of Charlotte’s working method involved writing out short sections of text on individual pieces of paper and revising them before copying them onto the manuscript. Tracy Chevalier wondered just how many changes were made before the final version was produced. If only Track Changes had been available in 19th-century Haworth!
 
As I sit in my office editing a journal article on knowledge organisations or a lengthy report on education policy in Central Asia, I can draw inspiration from Charlotte’s writing process and her desire to hone each and every sentence to perfection.
 
When it comes to writing and editing, some things never change.