By Alex Boersma, Literature columnist 25/26
In it's sixth year of running and with over 60 volunteers this year alone it is safe to say that Clifton's Literature Festival is thriving. I attended three events this year: Childless by choice, Trig Point poetry and Celebrating Bristol's distinguished writers. Each one carefully dotted around the particularly lively Clifton village.
Childless by choice-Helen Taylor-The Clifton Club
Placed in the beautifully grand Clifton Club, I walked up the stairs to this event as if I was in Bridgerton. Helen Taylor is an academic, women's rights advocate and founding member of the festival who also happens to be proudly childfree. Discussing her latest book, Childless by Choice, Helen explains she wrote it at this time in her life in part due to her busy career but also in response to something she heard on the radio. Someone on Radio 4 asked if not having children was a moral or a lifestyle choice to which Helen was utterly shocked. The radio show discussed how being childless implied a lack of investment in the future of the human race and upholding society. This claim was used by Andrea Leadsom as a case to argue Theresa May was unfit to be prime minister which forces May to admit she was unable to have children. Helen explained that her choice to have no children bears no regret as she remains grateful for her chosen life free of problematic children and feels 'no ties binding her to society in that way'. She continues that her choice enabled her to have a fulfilling and continuing career which she treasures.
Helen explains that the word 'childless' itself implies a 'loss' and absence however 'childfree' sounds 'arrogant'. For Helen, neither encapsulates her meaning and I'm sure this is the case for many others. She mentioned feminist poet Adrian Rich who notes how childless women were persecuted and looked down upon historically with many being labelled as witches or lesbians while others were expected to make up for their lack of children by serving the community such as nuns. She gave impressive examples of childless women we still talk about today such as Simone De Beauvoir and Emily Dickinson. It seems, the judgment of childless women in society has existed for hundreds of years and must be reconsidered as Helen explains she knows women who say they would find it easier to tell their family they were physically unable to have children than expressing their deliberate choice to be childless. Helen urges all to 'treat women without children as respectfully as you treat those with children'.
Celebrating Bristol's distinguished writers-Harriet Baker and Edson Burton-Clifton High School
In the gorgeous Clifton high school, Dr Harriet Baker and Edson Burton explain the importance of place in their writing. Harriet achieved Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year last year. Her debut novel, Rural Hours, focuses on two years in the lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann and their countryside lives. She explains each woman's move to the country was accidental but sparked creativity and prompted change in their writing moving from novels to diaries, essays and domestic writing such as shopping lists. Harriet hones in on each of their 'rural hours' and praises their 'unusual and brave ways of living' as contemporary women. She emphasises that they each 'experimented' by living in the countryside and while Woolf and Warner stayed in the countryside for the rest of their lives, Lehmann returned to London. Harriet explains she felt closest to Warner when writing due to the huge archive she left behind including diaries, cards, visitor books and objects which enabled her to delve into both the public and private spheres of her life.
The next speaker, Edson Burton is a writer for stage and screen, co founder of a black theatre company and holds an MBE for his community activism. He recently won the Tinniswood award for best audio drama. His latest work is Man Friday in which he reimagines Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. He explains he noticed a gap in novels about slavery and sought to correct this. He specialises in the transatlantic slave trade, afro futurism and race. He explains that 'taxonomies of race are always being developed' which is only too true of Bristol itself. He argues that we 'cannot escape certain narratives and situations in Bristol' recalling the pulling down of the Colston statue and Black Lives Matter protests. He describes that 'we are a continuity of a historical moment'. All his writing answers the question concerning how we can 'push back against the abomination of racism and misogyny' which remain pertinent today. It was heartwarming to see a member of the audience jot down the name of his radio show to return to.
Trig Point Poetry-Bethany Handley, Vanessa Lampert and Rosie Jackson-Christ Church Crypt
Three poets brought a gloomy November Saturday to light in the crypt. The first is disability activist Bethany Handley. Her latest collection, Cling Film, explores the well intended but nonetheless ableist comments she has received since becoming a wheelchair user. One poem she read centred around the Barbie in a wheelchair she saw while waiting in the hospital and her perfectly tailored wheelchair. She explains the irony that the NHS doesn't offer such perfectly tailored wheelchairs and instead had to buy one herself for about £6000. Another humorous but bittersweet poem she read was a list of cures strangers offered when her disability became visible such as pilates, vitamins, prayer and cutting out caffeine! Her final poem was striking as she explained being patted down by airport security as a wheelchair user and feeling utterly dehumanised as she was made to wait with baggage. Her poetry offers striking insight into the life of a wheelchair user and emphasises how much society needs to improve.
Vanessa Lampert is a witty and lively poet who started writing poetry as a means of coping with her brother's tragic death. Her most touching poem expressed her gratitude and joy at getting to have a close relationship with her late brother's child describing a seaside trip to Margate. Despite the tragic story tied to this poem, Vanessa's humour seeped throughout with poems about the pet hamsters of her children, Speedo models and one about her love of Giffords Circus which she continued going to once her children stopped being interested in the circus, embracing childlike joy wholeheartedly.
Emma Strutt
Roșie Jackson was the final poet who covers a variety of themes. She taught at UWE and lived in Clifton so would often venture over to the suspension bridge and wrote a poem about Sarah Ann Henley whose suicide attempt off the bridge was saved by her skirt which acted as a parachute. Rosie explains that she often writes poems in response to artworks and notes the importance of music, art and poetry when responding to tragedies such as war. She went on to read a poem about her own spiritual beliefs focusing on Indian teachings amongst other practices. She explains her spiritual practise stem from her father who prayed and promised to attend church weekly if he recovered from his battle with Tuberculous, which he followed through with.
Look out for next years festival lineup and Bristol's Lyra poetry festival in April 2026.
Featured Image: Epigram/ Alex Boersma
Have you been to Clifton Literature Festival before?
