Back in May 2020, I officially became a citizen of Yorkshire. Well, to be precise, I was approached by the Yorkshire Post to be featured in their ‘My Yorkshire’ section, and as far as I’m concerned, this was like getting my residents’ papers stamped in a place I’ve called home since the late 80s. I remember friends’ jokes about finally being permitted to let my whippet off a lead in Wakefield town centre on a Tuesday morning, and so on. My mum was born in Keighley and, like her, I’ve always appreciated a solid Yorkshire stereotype.
At about the same time, I was also welcomed into a circle which to me represents an aspect of the best of what contemporary Yorkshire has to offer, when I was approached by the indefatigable Ahmed Kaysher of Saudha Society of Poetry and Indian Music to speak at an event celebrating the launch of a new book by York poet Miles Salter. I confess that I hadn’t come across Saudha Society before, but I was struck immediately by the energy and passion they brought to facilitating creative dialogue between diverse arts and artists from around the globe. For me, it was another recognition of 'home', and over the subsequent years, I have had the pleasure of being involved in events across Yorkshire, further afield, and online, which have brought together contemporary poets from the UK, South Asia, and the USA, folk and classical musicians from many traditions, and dancers from diverse cultures.
And this, I think, celebrates one of the key elements of ‘my Yorkshire’ that I’ve enjoyed since I moved here about 35 years ago. It’s an area confidently rooted in its own sense of identity, but on the whole – and of course nowhere is perfect – simultaneously welcoming to, curious about, and respectful of others’ identities. In Saudha Society’s imaginative programming – which, though based in West Yorkshire, has encompassed events at the Palace of Westminster, the Royal Albert Hall, Edinburgh Festival, and the Welsh Parliament, to name but a few prestigious venues – I recognised a resonant kinship with my own approach to the arts, and with the ethos of Leeds Trinity University, around openness, sharing, and celebration. Yes, and learning, too.
It's an absolute delight, then, to be co-hosting a session for this year’s Saudha International Literature Festival at Leeds Trinity University on Thursday 22 June 2023. The evening’s highlight will be musical settings of works by one of the leading 20th-century Bengali poets, Kazi Nazrul Islam, one of the finest mystic poets of the 15th century from Banaras (India), Saint Kabir, and a remarkable metaphysical poet of the 18th century from Bengal, Lalon. With music by one of the finest contemporary Indian classical vocalists, Srimati Koyel Bhattacharjee, and vocalist Abhra Bhowmik accompanied on tabla by Sri Kuntal Das, there will be a full supporting programme of spoken words by international poets as well as talks on traditional, new, and experimental literature from around the world.
It will lift the spirits and it will take you to places you didn’t know existed. This, to me, is what a university is all about. And it’s one of the things that I think our region is all about. Flat caps are optional, open minds required.
This event is a collaboration between Leeds Trinity University, Saudha Society of Poetry and Indian Music, and LEEDS 2023 – Year of Culture.
Booking is available via Eventbrite.
Oz Hardwick is Professor of Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University.