A guest blog by Mallika Basu, food writer and commentator. Mallika leads our Food Writing online courses.

Food is love. While dinner parties with overflowing tables may temporarily be on hold, there is nothing to stop us passionate food lovers from whetting our appetites by spilling words onto a page. From odes to seasonal quince and much-needed mindful eating, to restoration of a kitchen dating back to the early 19th century, the British Library is giving us all a chance to get our tastes tingling about the basic ingredients of food writing filled with flavour. I’ve recently lead two perfectly plated food writing online courses for the Library, and begin to repeat the series again this December. It feels timely, for a number of reasons.

Food writing has evolved considerably since I started as a blogger fourteen years ago, as has my prose mercifully. Alongside my cookbooks and food columns, I have had a successful career in the communications industry. As an “ethnic” food writer who focuses on Indian cookery and putting spice cupboards to better use, running these courses is an incredible opportunity for me to address unconscious bias and cultural appropriation in a public forum with a responsible and engaged audience. I bring a unique perspective to these courses, rooting them in the here and now.

We have less time than ever. How we access information has been transformed by digital and social media. No longer is it acceptable to live in a vacuum of social awareness. The first course starts with this – the context within which food writing functions today. We then explore sound principles of writing and move on to food writing tips that make sure no reader is left with an unintended sour taste in their mouth.

If it all sounds a bit earnest, I can assure you it is far from. In between the tips, we found plenty of time to chat about what inspires and moves us, share practical tips of our own and wax lyrical about cookbooks, food scientists, food memoirs and restaurant critics we love and hate. I roped in a small handful of my talented and well-established food writers to offer their own nuggets of advice, which ranged from the practical (stop procrastinating and just get writing) to the essential (please hold on to your sense of humour).

The practical part of the session gives us a chance to whip what we’ve learnt into action. I would tell you more, but I might give the finale away for the next course on 3 December.

In a sign of the times, it feels apt to deliver these courses online. After all, technology has allowed us to think beyond the realms of possibility. Who knew we would be cooking, eating and drinking wine with friends on video calls? If the feedback so far is anything to go by, it gives attendees more than a taste of how to be a better food writer.     

Mallika leads the Food Writing: The Basics course on 3 December. For more ways to feed your curious mind from whenever you are, stay up to date with our online courses programme.

Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved family novel tells the story of an orphan girl sent to live in a mysterious house where she discovers something magical… The Secret Garden. Spanning over a century, we have a wealth of editions (including learning materials and ebook versions) of The Secret Garden in our collection, including the first edition published in 1911. Most recently, a new film adaptation of the children’s classic The Secret Garden, starring Julie Walters and Colin Firth, has just been released in the UK.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was born in Manchester. After her father died when she was only four years old, her mother was left to run the family furniture store while raising five children. Manchester’s failing economy led the family to immigrate to Knoxville, USA in 1865 where Frances helped to support her family with income from the sale of her stories.

While she is best known for The Secret Garden, Hodgson Burnett also wrote for plays and novels for adults. Through archiving and digitising her work, we made an incredible discovery earlier this year. In the decade preceding her death, she wrote a series of semi-autobiographical articles for Good Housekeeping. One such article The Christmas in the Fog, published in 1915, was discovered tucked away in our archives.

The ghostly story recounts a foggy journey to New York and an encounter with a “shabby little boy”. You can read this fascinating story, along with other forgotten works by women writers in our new anthology Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird (available to order now).

Our ongoing digitisation work continues to unearth untold stories and helps us open up a world of inspiration and ideas for everyone. This Christmas you can help sow the seeds of future imaginations by adopting this or other classic books from our collection for just £40. Adopt The Secret Garden.

Rhian Isaac

The British Library has long collaborated with Leeds Libraries through programmes such as the Business and IP Centre (BIPC) and the Living Knowledge Network. With our growing culture and learning programme in the region, Rhian Isaac, Collections Manager at Leeds Libraries, details our latest Leeds Libraries partnership for our latest exhibition Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights.

After the success of our previous Leeds Libraries and British Library exhibition partnerships (Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Making Your Mark: 5,000 Years of Written History) we were excited about working together again on Unfinished Business. Leeds has a strong history of female activism from the fight for suffrage, Reclaim the Night marches, union strikes for fairer working conditions to the current campaign to make Leeds the first women-friendly city. This was a great opportunity to share these stories.

To develop our programme, I met with lots of different groups, from a book club with 11 year-old girls through to older people’s groups to chat about how far things had changed for women and whether there was anything left to achieve. In every group there were examples of women who pushed back against restrictions and stereotypes.

One woman told us about being asked if she had her husband’s permission when she went to the family clinic in 1965 for the pill. She hadn’t told her husband, but already had two boys and couldn’t afford more children. Another woman remembered the girls being made to sit at the back of the classroom knitting whilst the boys studied. After complaining, she was allowed to join the boys and ended up excelling in algebra and foreign languages.

The Ripper Murders are still very much in living memory in the Leeds area. They had a profound impact on women’s lives and led to the first Reclaim the Night march in 1977. Victim-blaming and violence against women remains a concern amongst the women we spoke to.

At workshops with high school students, worries about social media and body image made me think that there were new challenges for girls to face, but overall I felt optimistic watching them paint feminist slogans to take home. 

Inspired by Unfinished Business, Leeds Libraries and Studio12 have curated an online exhibition highlighting Leeds’ unique contribution to the campaign for gender equality and featuring important books connected to the wider history of women’s rights. The exhibition spans over 300 years from the poetry of Katherine Philips in 1669, through to the activism of the 70s and 80s and culminating in the work of contemporary local spoken word artists.

In addition, we are thrilled to be hosting an incredible weekender of online events developed with the British Library. These events celebrate the achievements of women past and present but also encourage us to reflect on the work that still needs to be done. Now, more than ever, it is so important to recognise women still experience inequality because of their sexuality, gender identity, class or race and libraries have a role in ensuring the fight for all women’s rights continues.

Unfinished Business: Leeds Weekender events

Spoken Word Showcase
Thursday 19 November 2020, 19.00 – 21.00

Hosted by the renowned literary activist, writer and playwright Khadijah Ibrahiim, this special event features poets and artists from Yorkshire. We’ll begin with a panel discussion exploring women’s voices, activism and the fight for a fairer world featuring guest poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan followed by performances from emerging and established artists. Book now

Writers in Conversation
Friday 20 November 2020, 19.00 – 20.30

For this in conversation event, novelists Tracy Chevalier, Nikita Lalwani and Stephanie Scott will read extracts from their latest works and take part in a panel discussion led by journalist Yvette Huddleston. Book now

A Mixed Reality Portrait
Saturday 21 November 2020, 17.00 – 18.00

Watch live as artist Rosie Summers brings art to life, creating a portrait of the inspirational primatologist Alison Jolly, who features in our major exhibition, Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights. Book now

 Wikithon: Women in Leeds
Sunday 22 November 2020, 13.00 – 15.00

Celebrate some of the amazing women of Leeds past and present, by learning how to edit pages on Wikipedia and address its gender imbalance in this informal workshop. Book now