Culture Unwrapped: Word Power

Anila Dhami, journalist and producer, uses her platform’ to start conversations to shed light on topics that affect communities, such as women’s empowerment, domestic abuse, and homosexuality. Dhami leads a panel of specialist experts to discuss the power of words. They will share the processes in how and why stories, poems and live spoken word performance are made.

Amit Dhand is a crime writer whose debut novel,’ Streets of Darkness, is a sombre, gritty race through’ the unsettling underbelly of Bradford. The TV rights’ were snapped up and comparisons have already been’ made with the popular BBC drama Luther and HBO’s’ The Wire.

Bohdan Piasecki started the first poetry slam series in 2003 in Poland, introducing Poles to spoken word and creating a new platform for a whole generation of performers. He is also General Manager of Free Radical, a platform for young artists & activists based in Birmingham, part of the Beatfreeks Collective.

Rishi Dastidar is an award winning British based poet’ whose works have been published by the Financial’ Times, Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre amongst’ many others, and has featured in the anthologies’ ‘Adventures in Form’ (Penned in the Margins) and ‘Ten:’ The New Wave’ (Bloodaxe).

Syima Aslam is Festival Director of the Bradford Literature Festival who is a self-confessed book worm,’ whose love of books and literature led her to create’ a cultural and literary extravaganza celebrating the’ written and spoken word.