The Bradford Literacy Campaign teams up with the Saif-ul-Malook festival

The Bradford Literacy Campaign is working with the first ever Saif-ul-Malook festival in Bradford – an event on the 6th of September which will be celebrating the much-loved collection of poems found in Punjabi speaking households.

Through bringing speakers, performances and activities inspired by the Saif-ul-Malook text into evening supplementary schools before the event which is being organised with Bradford Council’s Diversity and Cohesion team and PM Promoters, the Bradford Literacy Campaign aims to encourage creative writing and emphasise the importance and advantages of mother tongue.

Plus, the 11-18 year old youngster who wows the expert judges with their recital of the Saif-ul-Malook text will win the exclusive prize of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform alongside international artists at the event in Bradford’s St George’s Hall!

One of the campaign’s aims is to emphasise the advantages of being bi-lingual and encourage parents for whom English is an additional language to become more involved in their child’s literacy development. To help achieve this, the Bradford Literacy Campaign has produced a resource containing context and translations of the Saif-ul-Malook poetry for participants to take home with them and share with their family after the workshops.

Imran Hafeez, the National Literacy Trust’s Bradford Hub Manager says:
“This is a unique opportunity to build stronger links with Punjabi speaking communities through the celebration of a culturally significant text to help bring literacy to life at home. Literacy is about speaking and listening as well as reading and writing, so I’m delighted that the very exciting Saif-ul-Malook festival is helping Bradford’s children develop these skills and is giving a platform to the Bradford Literacy Campaign.”