Monday 29 June.
Aspen UK joined Bradford Literature Festival (BLF) to hold a special online seminar on ‘Identity and Memory’, inspired by and using the poetry of Anthony Anaxagorou.
Anthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot poet, fiction writer, essayist, publisher, and poetry educator. During the seminar, participants were treated to a live reading by Anthony of his poem After the Formalities, from his second collection of the same name. Anthony then joined the discussion, with Syima Aslam, Founder and Creative Director of BLF.
BLF is one of the UK’s most inspirational and inclusive festivals, celebrating the written and spoken word in all its forms.
Using Anthony’s poem as a starting point for discussion, Aspen UK gathered a diverse group of participants to reflect on some of the overlooked issues affecting UK society. The conversation reflected the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, and issues of race and racism in the UK.
Aspen UK plans to continue to convene representatives from the creative, non-profit, government and corporate spheres for online conversations before in-person seminars are possible, and will launch a new series in September 2020.
