FEATURE
The Seventh Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival was held in November and once again welcomed an eclectic mix of authors and speakers to what is fast becoming a well-established fixture on the cultural calendar that has taken root and flourished year on year. Significant figures from the worlds of both fiction and non-fiction publishing delighted audiences as they spoke in some of Gibraltar’s most iconic and important venues; at the Garrison Library, the Convent, John Mackintosh Hall and the Gibraltar University. Literary Festivals are a great way for authors to connect with readers, both those who have already read their books and for those who buy their books having heard them speak. Above all, there is huge pleasure in hearing an author you love speak about their work. There were many highlights and for those who weren’t able to attend, here is a roundup of just some of the events which enriched and inspired the attendees. The first talk on the morning of Thursday 14th November offered a fast paced and interesting talk by the affable Dr. Julian Baggini, author of How the World Thinks: a global history of philosophy. The audience, including a large group of A level students, were led through many different philosophical traditions from Confucianism to the ancient Greeks and on to Japan, with which Dr. Baggini seems to have had a particular affinity for a society where harmony is not just cherry blossoms fading but simple human courtesy. “What’s foreground in one culture or tradition is background in another,” he told us. “Have we not been paying attention to social harmony?” he asked. “The UK and the USA have become polarised and fractious and Brexit has completely divided society.” Many of us left the talk with the thought that maybe we can learn from the rest of the world and borrow ideas that can expand our thinking. The Garrison Library played host to Tito Benady and Richard Garcia who took us on a journey of 25 years of the Gibraltar Heritage Journal, from its initiation by the Friends of Gibraltar Heritage Society, who were at the time raising funds for the restoration of Gibraltar’s City Hall. The journal went on to become an annual publication and was championed by former Governor of Gibraltar, General Sir William Jackson, whom Tito Benady described as “a friend of Gibraltar when it wasn’t fashionable and we didn’t have many friends.” Bringing us back up-to-date, journalist and broadcaster Gavin Esler discussed his book ‘Brexit without the Bullshit’ and the “normalisation of lying in public life.” He gave his opinion on what will happen after Brexit and dazzled us with some stunning facts about crop pickers “almost all our seasonal fruit and vegetable pickers are EU 27 workers, only about 1% are British” - about slaughterhouse vets - “only 5% of slaughterhouse vets are British; 95% come from the EU 27” - and about trade deals with the USA - “lobbyists are demanding that any future US-UK trade deal should include the dismantling of EU food standards. That would mean British supermarkets accepting not just chlorinated chicken but ractopamine in pork (a substance banned in the EU, banned in China, Russia, and most other developed countries).” Ultimately, Gavin Esler’s message is that facts and expertise actually do matter and remain important.
LITERARY FESTIVAL
HIGHLIGHTS
On the subject of food, but thankfully in a much more pleasant manner, two top chefs came to the Gibraltar Literary Festival, both in conversation with Donald Sloan from the Oxford Cultural Collective, talking about their work, hosting lunches and preparing the Opening and Closing Dinners. Jeremy Lee, Chef Proprietor at Quo Vadis in Soho, is a warm and friendly character whose first cook book is due out next year. Jeremy, born in Dundee, explained how he was introduced to the joys of food and cooking from a young age by his mother who was a domestic science teacher and how he later went on to build his career alongside, amongst others, Terence Conran who he says was instrumental in the revitalisation of British cuisine. “It was at a time when British cooking had become a laughing stock internationally and we all bought into the fact that the best cuisine was French and Italian,” he told us, “but there
WORDS BY JO WARD 20
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