Forget the negative media portrayals: from the Brontës to chai shops, this city is teeming with culture old and new
Listicles, in all their concise glory, have a special place in their heart for Bradford, my home city. Bradford is routinely featured in articles bearing titles such as “Top 10 worst places to live in the UK” and “Top dumps”. Little wonder that in my teenage years I balked at the prospect of telling people where I was from, weary of the raised eyebrows and pitying looks.
Hence my delight at yesterday’s fantastic news that Bradford has been crowned the UK city of culture 2025. The title will at last allow it to flaunt its already flourishing commitment to nurturing creativity and talent – and I will never again have to pretend I come from somewhere else.
Ghazal Abbasi is an investigative journalist and researcher
