From April 19-23, locals gravitated towards the heart of Cambridge to immerse themselves in the love of books, ideas and collective joy.
Reading and writing are essentially solitary acts – performed alone as individuals are transported into a realm of ideas, symbols and fantasy.
But this escape can undermine the galvanising power of words and make us forget that literature’s greatest strength is in creating a sense of common purpose and community. Our finest stories hold up a mirror to our society and demand that we interact and engage so that the reflection evolves meaningfully and constructively.
And with the memory of communal moments disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic still raw and fresh in our minds, public gatherings are a healthy reminder that the best way to achieve positive change is to get together.
Launched as Cambridge Wordfest in 2003, Cambridge Literary Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary in April. The event is a point of convergence for wordsmiths and bookworms to embrace our rich literary heritage and storytelling culture.
In the past two decades, it has welcomed Nobel Prize winners, poet laureates, academics, politicians, journalists, TV personalities and devoted audiences to explore the most pressing issues of our time.
As I sat in Cambridge Union and Old Divinity School listening to spirited conversations brimming with applause, I thought about ‘collective effervescence’ – the sensation of energy and harmony that arises when people are engaged in a shared purpose.
CEO and artistic director Cathy Moore said: “In these darker times that we seem to be living in, there needs to be hope and expression and connection – because it’s good for us.
“We celebrated 20 years on Thursday and the theme of my speech was one of gratitude because we couldn't have done it without the students, volunteers, sponsors, patrons, writers and audiences – it is a big community effort.”
This year, the festival introduced three new initiatives.
“The first was the State of the Nation lecture from Andrew Marr, who did a tour de force in the Cambridge Union to 420 people,” says Cathy.
The second was The Cambridge Series, which focused on the latest insights from the university. The third was a keynote speech inspired by Virginia Woolf, which will run each year.
“Our closing event was A Room of One’s Own Lecture at Newnham College, delivered by our one of our founding festival patrons, Ali Smith.”
The weekend’s 53 events interrogated the political situation in the UK and across the world on topics such as climate and the environment, migration, feminism, race, food security and the cost of living.
The eclectic programme comprising talks, book signings, panel discussions and literary lunches discussed everything from Shakespeare, the menopause and cooking to marine biology and women in science, as well as a children’s programme featuring authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson.
On Friday, Pattie Boyd discussed her new photography book, My Life in Pictures, which chronicles her life as a 1960s supermodel and rock and roll muse with George Harrison and Eric Clapton.
Saturday’s speakers included Kit de Waal, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Peter Wohlleben and Natalie Haynes, while on Sunday singing therapist, teacher and performer Julia Hollander hosted an interactive event which demonstrated the importance of song when it comes to our wellbeing, spiritual, emotional and physical lives.
“Music is our primary language,” Julia said. “We hear our mother’s voice in the womb.”
Julia was inspired to write her book, Why We Sing, after discovering the therapeutic power of music, which allowed her to connect with her daughter, who was born with brain damage.
“I wanted to write from life experience,” Julia said. “I never thought I was going to have a relationship with my child, who had no cerebral cortex.
“But through this very simple tonality and rhythm, she had a vivid response. It was this visceral connection that I could have with my voice. That was really important for me as her mother.”
After discovering this amazing ability to connect with her disabled daughter, Julia organised dementia singing groups with the Alzheimer’s Society, helping those with progressive brain disorders. Dementia triggers a loss of brain function which can include symptoms such as memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding.
“In every group, something magical happened,” Julia said. “They gained linguistic skills, social skills, confidence. They were learning when they thought they didn't know how to learn any more. They were having connection with their loved ones when they thought that had been lost.”
Julia’s book explores research into how syncing our own voices with other people produces oxytocin, the love hormone, which engenders bonding – proving how singing together can inspire this feeling of collective effervescence.
“With the simplicity of singing a harmony together – maybe in a language we don't understand – we leave our egos outside the room and become totally present with one another.
“It's amazingly connecting.”
This shared sense of purpose will also be necessary to innovate our food system – the topic of a new book from co-founder of the Leon Restaurants franchise Henry Dimbleby MBE.
Michael Gove commissioned Henry to produce the National Food Strategy, which he has used as the basis for his new book Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and our Planet into Shape. Co-written by Henry’s wife, journalist Jemima Lewis, the book offers a pragmatic manifesto for transforming the food system to protect public health, the environment and the economy.
“I’d run out of road inside government and the most important thing was to try and change the food system by changing the ideas in society and amongst people,” Henry said. “If you want to change a system, you have to get people to understand how it works."
Since 1992, UK governments have tried 689 different anti-obesity schemes with no success. Henry argues that this is because these schemes appeal to individual responsibility, rather than changing the junk food cycle itself.
“When you take a bite of food, you like to think you’re in control,” Henry said. “But actually, you're part of this machine. Most people think that we are sick because we need more education, exercise and willpower. But that’s just not true.
“If we want to create a healthy society, we’ve got to do something about the obesogenic environment.
“The food industry has disproportionately invested in marketing research and foods that hack into that appetite – an incredibly powerful instinct,” Henry said. “Some people are more susceptible to this obesogenic environment, where we are constantly being tempted.”
Henry’s book also discusses new appetite suppressant drugs like semaglutide, which mimics hormones released after eating, as well as the impact of our food system on biodiversity and climate change.
“The food system is by far the biggest cause of biodiversity collapse – deforestation, freshwater shortage and pollution,” he said. “Our current economic growth is built completely on borrowing from the bank of nature.
“Globally, we spend $500 billion a year subsidising activities that destroy nature such as industrial farming, fossil fuels, fishing and so forth. Governments must intervene to change those warped feedback loops and incentives.”
The food system can be revolutionised, but only if intense pressure is applied with the power of collective will. Unless the system is changed, Henry predicts that we will become not only sick but impoverished.
“By 2035, it's projected that Type 2 diabetes will cost as much to treat as all cancers cost today – and that is just one diet-related condition,” he said. “Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank of England, said he thought that illness was the single biggest drag on economic growth.”
Henry also suggests eating less meat, banning advertising for junk food directed at children and creating a sugar and salt reformulation tax to subsidise fruit and vegetables for people living in poverty.
Food writer and activist Jack Monroe also appeared at Cambridge Literary Festival to discuss the cost of living crisis and its effect on our diet.
“Her work is extraordinary,” Henry said. “She’s a brilliant and fearless campaigner, as well as great cook.
“We’re at a fork in the road. But because you're a cog in the machine, that means you can also move the machine into a healthier operation.”
For more information, visit cambridgeliteraryfestival.com
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