Bradford City Square's Mirror Pool and City Hall at night lit up

5 Jul 2025

Bradford Literature Festival: Bradford, Food & Writing – A Taste from Home

Habiba Desai & Shahnaz Ahsan

A discussion on how food writing an connect culture and cuisine.

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Event Details

Date 5 Jul 2025

Times 1-2.30pm

Location Banqueting Suite, City Hall

Tickets £7 ↓

Join writer Shahnaz Ahsan, food writer Radhika Howarth, and publisher Habiba Desai for a heartfelt conversation about food, memory, and storytelling rooted in Bradford’s South Asian community.

In The Jackfruit Chronicles, Ahsan weaves family recipes with personal and historical narratives to explore British-Bangladeshi identity. Desai, co-founder of Fox & Windmill, shares insights from Tales from the Kitchen, a moving collection of food essays by British South Asian writers. Howarth brings her perspective as a food writer and culinary educator, reflecting on the sensory power of food in shaping cultural identity and belonging.

They discuss how food writing can preserve heritage, challenge stereotypes, and connect generations – particularly in Bradford, where culture and cuisine are inseparably linked.

About the Big Tasty Read

The Big Tasty Read is a brand-new nationwide campaign blending the joy of reading with the love of food. Led by Bradford Council’s Bradford Libraries and delivered as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, the campaign will feature an exciting programme of events taking place across Bradford district and beyond.

Credits

The Big Tasty Read is delivered by The Reading Agency and BBC Arts with additional funding from Arts Council England. The campaign is delivered in partnership with Bradford Libraries and Bradford 2025 in association with Bradford Literature Festival.