Review: Ilkley Literature Festival events

Before getting to Her late Majesty, he poked fun at the dried flower arrangement on the stage – a mini harvest festival? – and recounted his recent hosting of the association of funeral directors awards event. The profession had, he mused, had a fabulous few years and could afford to reward the crème de la crème and some thinking outside the box. He treated his main subject with due deference, of course, but was keen to emphasise the Queen’s humanity and sense of humour. We also learned a lot about the Duke of Edinburgh, with whom Brandreth had clearly enjoyed a mutually respectful relationship.

Polly Toynbee’s event, in the same venue, was a little disappointing in that her book is sub-titled “My Family and Other Radicals” and we heard little or nothing about them. She spoke mainly about the class divide and the increase in the equality gap, with some cogent points about vital early years education, the importance of mental health awareness and the arts. Her support for proportional representation and lowering the voting age to 16 elicited an enthusiastic response, especially the idea of obliging candidates to go into schools and field questions from the young people who would experience their policies in action.

In a sparsely attended and rather low-key event at All Saints Church later on Saturday, Stef Penney presented Beasts of Paris, a novel set against the backdrop of the Franco-Prussian war, the siege of Paris and the Commune of 1870-71. The beasts in question are both the animals in the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes and the participants in the siege and the subsequent uprising, with the animals displaying far better qualities. There is much social history too; a central character is Anne, a clearly neurodivergent girl who lives in the Salpêtrière mental hospital and features in demonstrations under hypnosis for the entertainment of the public. Lawrence is a young Canadian, employed by a society photographer with a side line in erotic postcards, while his lover, Ellis, is an American surgeon scarred by his Civil War experience. All have to confront the rigours of conflict to grow and evolve.

Jeanette Winterson (Image: submitted)

Ghosts from later wars – WWI in her grandfather’s case, WWII in her father’s – had their place in the Pentecostal household where Jeanette Winterson grew up and where preoccupation with the end time was all-pervading. Winterson is a highly entertaining performer with a serious purpose: to acknowledge that what we call reality is just what we can see, not necessarily the totality of what exists. Artificial intelligence may be the non-bio entity of the future, not confined in body or time. Scary stuff, maybe, but less scary than the capacity of humanity to wipe itself out. Her collection of 13 ghost stories in The Night Side of the River promises to be thought-provoking. She read one as an enticing taster.

Shappi Khorsandi (Image: submitted)

Another great entertainer is Shappi Khorsandi, in Ilkley to present Scatterbrain, the story of her ADHD diagnosis two years ago and her life beforehand. As we heard last week from Melanie Sykes, such a diagnosis is liberating in the sense that it explains so much. For Shappi, it also brings huge regrets as to how her condition impacted others. Properly diagnosed and treated, ADHD should be no more of a problem than short sight. It is a difference, not a disorder and, far from an attention deficit, sufferers have an excess of attention – just differently applied. Shappi’s anecdotes are heartbreaking, but she is full of optimism, recommending podcasts by young people and a great magazine called ADDitudes.