Guest Blog: Anjum Anand

We're welcoming five very different, but equally fantastic, Guest Directors to the Festival this year. We asked food writer Anjum Anand, to tell us what it's like to be appointed 'head chef' of the Literature Festival and what we can expect from her series of mouth-watering events...



Guest Director Anjum Anand

I was immensely flattered when I was asked to be a guest-director for this year’s Cheltenham festival but my delight began to morph into panic and anxiety when I realised that I needed to put together my ideas for five really stimulating events that could match those of my fellow directors. I feared that where my passions lie: food, the home, health and the cultural heritage of cooking, may not be natural territories for discussion at such a prestigious literary festival. It took a while and many brainstorming sessions with anyone who was indulgent enough to listen to me throwing ideas into the air and then watch them fall into a chaotic disorganised mess. But finally, some of these thoughts formed heaps which eventually took forms and life and became the basis for the panels and discussions that have been organised at the festival.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of putting together these panels and bringing together individuals whom I admire to voice their own opinions about food, cooking, family heritage and food and health and am much looking forward to October. It will also be fun to have the opportunity to cook whilst being interviewed by Nikki Beddi who has to be one of the bubbliest people to be interviewed by and I always feel like I am having a fun and frank conversation with an old friend, almost forgetting others are listening. I’m also delighted to hear that, for the first time, there is going to be a Food Court at the festival showcasing local produce and I look forward to sampling a lot of that.

 

Anjum Anand

Guest Director

 

You can find out more about our Bitesize series and all of Anjum's events over at the Festival website

And plan your own mouth watering adventure in the brand new FeastFest Food Hall