Wolverhampton Literature Festival: Author set to talk of homeland
A celebrated son of Wolverhampton will be presenting his thoughts about his home when he becomes part of the city’s literature festival.
And author and columnist Sathnam Sanghera will also explore the dysfunction of politics, racism and multiculturalism, all themes in his new book.
Mr Sanghera’s visit to Wolverhampton Literature Festival coincides with the release of ‘Empireland: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain’.
He was born in the city in 1976 to Punjabi immigrant parents and initially started his school life unable to speak English, but learned quickly and has achieved much in his 44 years.
This includes a first-class degree in English language and literature from Cambridge University, two award-nominated books and numerous prizes for his work in journalism at the Financial Times and The Times.
His book ‘The Boy with the Topknot’ is a poignant recollection of growing up in Wolverhampton, as well as touching on themes of mental illness. It was turned into a film by the BBC.
Mr Sanghera said his latest book, which will be discussed on Saturday with author Natasha Junejo, was a way of examining the public view of the British Empire and the ideals of imperialism.
He said: “I basically realised, as a nation, we are quite screwed up about our history as we either forget that we ran the biggest empire in human history or we get strangely nostalgic about it.
“I think that as a result, there’s all sorts of dysfunctions when it comes to our politics, when it comes to understanding racism and multiculturalism and I think it explains a lot of what’s wrong about this country.”
Mr Sanghera said it was about looking at how much of modern Britain can be explained by imperialism, looking at language, food and the ideas that the country is multicultural because of the empire.
He also said his family are here due to the empire, with family members having fought with the British in both world wars.
And said he wanted to write books like this because they didn’t exist and he wanted to document a complicated time.
Mr Sanghera has been a supporter of the festival since its first year and said it was wonderful to see the event become as vibrant as it has, also saying he was honoured to be a part of it, even in a virtual setting.
He said: “I think it’s an excellent thing doing it virtually as although in some ways, it’s more distant, you’re actually in someone’s living room, which makes it more intimate.
“You’ll get about four years of my research condensed into an hour for my event, as well as a really detailed look at my living room.
“Empire is one of the most controversial subjects out there as it encompasses all sort of subjects, so I hope there will always be a debate about this.”
“Empireland: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain” takes place on Saturday at 7pm on Zoom, with tickets costing £12 plus a booking fee.
To book tickets and find out more details about what the festival has to offer visit wolvesliteraturefestival.co.uk
