A literary charity is continuing its campaign for Lewisham to become the first Borough of Literature as part of the upcoming Deptford Literature Festival.
The campaign was established last year by Spread the Word, a literary development agency and registered charity set up by 1995 Booker Prize winning novelist Bernadine Evaristo and chair of English PEN Ruth Borthwick.
On their website, Spread the Word claimed that working toward this unique title would augment Lewisham’s creative potential.
It said: “Being Borough of Literature would give our borough recognition, would drive funding towards world-related activities in the area, give existing and new, talented writers more opportunities to share their work and reach a bigger audience.”
To popularise and establish this original moniker, the Borough of Literature campaign’s advisory board intends to promote Lewisham’s literary merit while honouring its unique ethnic-linguistic diversity and status as a Borough of Sanctuary.
The committee’s suggested areas of focus include the supporting of literacy amongst the young, a championing of the borough’s non-English readership, and a celebration of authors associated with Lewisham such as H. G. Wells and E. Nesbit.
The committee highlighted their concerns in a communication last month.
The committee said: “The conversation covered: building a collective sense of pride in the area and it’s different communities; creating a strong legacy of increased opportunities and recognition for the borough; preserving the local history of migration; and reinvigorating local venues and businesses.”
Extending the campaign to this year’s Deptford Literature Festival from 27-30 March, Spread the Word have commissioned four writers from the area in Erica Hesketh, Tutku Barbaros, Fathima Zahra, and Amii Griggith to produce work around the theme To All The Places I Have Read.
Join us in celebrating Lewisham at #DeptfordLitFest Discuss the Borough of Literature campaign so far with the Advisory Committee and hear new work on the theme "To All The Places I Have Read" eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-lewisham-through-the-borough-of-literature-tickets-1146034723709
— Spread the Word (@spread-the-word.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
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Concern about the future of literary festivals has grown in recent years as developers grapple with trends affecting audiences, including post-pandemic anxiety and increasing cost-of-living.
Last year, pressure from alleged ties to the fossil fuel industry and the State of Israel led the investment management firm Baillie Gifford to withdraw funding from several major literary festivals in the UK.
These included the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Hay Festival, in addition to other fairs in Stratford, Wigtown, Cheltenham, and Cambridge.
Baillie Gifford’s pull-out last year prompted a slew of claims that the days of literature festivals were numbered.
In the immediate aftermath, financial shortfalls were said to be crippling with at least one festival quoting a funding gap of £100,000.
However, Spread the Word commissioned writers Barbaros claimed literature festivals could still flourish by curating events which resonate with the community.
Barbaros said: “I think festivals can sometimes be in settings and locations and environments that are not necessarily accessible to people, whether financially or physically.
“So I think what we should be doing is thinking about how to make literature festivals at a smaller scale, or at a more intimate scale that can reach people in a different way.”
Since larger literary festivals tend to pool talent from across the country Barbaros said there was an added danger for such events to disenfranchise local, prospective audiences.
In her view, local festivals have an edge in that they speak to and represent their communities more intimately.
Barbaros, who runs local writing worships, claimed that locally-derived programmes such as those devised by Deptford Literary Festival could help Lewisham’s unique reading population connect to their local writers and creatives, offering something to the community in return.
Alongside her fellow writers, Barbaros will present the commissioned pieces on Saturday 29 March at 11am the Deptford Lounge.
The work of other writers from the area will also be heard.
The Advisory Committee of the campaign intends to reveal future plans for achieving the Borough of Literature mantle.
Feature image credit: Stephen Craven, Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.0)
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