Sylvia Vetta-Author -FOOD OF LOVE
December 2022- Podcast Exploring with Sylvia Vetta!
Podcast Airing December 6, 2022 on Youtube
Sylvia Vetta’s memoir Food of Love Cooking up a life across gender, class and race is receiving outstanding endorsements. Sylvia married her Indian born husband when that was regarded with hostility. Her story is also one of a working class girl from Luton becoming middle class. She is a campaigner for libraries because her life would have been very different without access to Luton Central Library. She is on her fourth career after teaching, running a business, freelance writing and now as an author. Her story of women in business in Oxford, 1983-1998, is one of exclusion and casual misogyny. Food of Love tells how the intersection of gender, class and race shaped her life – and how she tried to transcend them.
As a journalist Sylvia met Qu Leilei, a founder of the Stars Art Movement Beijing 1979. See Andy Cohen’s film ‘Beijing Spring’. Her first acclaimed novel Brushstrokes in Time, set in China and the USA, celebrates those courageous artists (including Ai Weiwei). Sylvia is best known in Oxfordshire for her profile features of 120 inspirational people from 5 continents, of every colour and most religions. (Turned into 3 books) Her second novel Sculpting the Elephant is set in Oxford and India and the third, Not so Black and White– west Kenya and London – is inspired by the life of co-author Nancy Mudenyo Hunt.
Sylvia and Atam have three sons, Justin, Adrian and Paul. Adrian is Professor of Computer Maths at McGill University so she is a frequent visitor to Canada.
Her life does not fit conveniently in any boxes. Sylvia has been involved in community and development projects for over 40 years.
For Sylvia’s non-fiction including the Oxford Castaways series go to
https://www.sylviavetta.co.uk & click on BOOKS
Endorsements:
The Food of Love is a personal history while at the same time it is an honest portrayal of the post Second World War period. We are faced with our attitudes to class, education, gender, religion, race, politics and the expectations of people’s position in society. It is a serious social comment as well as being amusing and entertaining. The way food is used to link the chapters is brilliant : Diana Bell, artist
Vetta takes us on a lively and delicious journey through her varied and culturally rich life. Her open-mindedness and generosity shine through. And she completely understands how food and memory are inextricably linked. The recipes are great too: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, London Evening Standard
Told with brio and verve, this is an astonishing life story that takes in working-class life in post-war Britain, and the transformation of society in the decades that followed. Encounters with India and China shape a life where enthusiasm for food, art and politics come together in a combination of profoundly serious issues and the laughter of liberation: Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford
Food of Love is a testimony of zest for life, and compassionate anger at the many forms of injustice in post-war England. Sylvia Vetta’s story takes us through her many lives, as she reinvents herself time and time again, rising from the ashes of prejudice, misogyny, racism and greed to renew herself. Whilst it is a story of England’s hidden everyday evils, it is a story too of what can be achieved with a life steered by passion, integrity and courage. Dr Jane Spiro, Professor of Education and TESOL, Oxford Brookes University
A wonderful read with insight into how, having access to books at an early age, empowers social mobility. Sylvia’s passion for creating access to books for the next generation is inspiring as she mobilises others to share her vision and is now fundraising to build a community library in western Kenya in partnership with the Nasio Trust : Nancy Mundenyo Hunt, Founder and CEO of the Nasio Trust, Winner of The UK NatWest Bank Most Inspirational Woman Award 2015
Touching, inspiring and approachable with a wide range of historical details, Sylvia’s memoir is a delight to read. She shows how love persists in the face of great historical forces of socio-political change that can throw people into divisive vortexes. Not only is she courageous to write about the racist and misogynist abuses she and her family have encountered, the book also recounts her decades-long dedication to entrepreneurial and community work in Oxford that paints the city of dreamy spires in fresh colours. Dr Flair Donglai Shi, Associate Professor of World Literature, Shanghai Jiaotong University
Vetta is a burning fuse on the score of an Oxfordshire cabaret. We can trace here the sweet unrelenting energy which has impacted the collective heart and mentality of its stakeholders and citizens. A Woman for All Seasons: Haldi Ravenna Sheahan, writer/editor
Connect with Sylvia:
Sylvia Vetta’s Website https://www.sylviavetta.co.uk
Publisher Claret Press
MORE REFERENCES DISCUSSED IN THE PODCAST:
Beijing Spring and BrushStrokes In Time https://www.oxfordindiebookfair.co.uk/oxford-indie-book-fair-magazine/oibf-magazine-issue-5/beijing-spring-1979/
Must Watch: Beijing Spring info https://youtu.be/WfRCHgk2YR8
Note: closed caption/subtitles are being updated on the videos, along with time stamps, especially for the longer videos. Look for the time stamps along the video slider, or in the description box. You can jump to a specific section of the video. The computer-generated subtitles are often incorrect, but I hope to update all as soon as possible.
