The Linguist

Chartered Institute of Linguists WINTER 2025 The Linguist 25 Migration Matters founder Sam Holland discusses the language aspects of the festival as it celebrates 10 years Why did you establish the Migration Matters Festival? It began out of a growing concern about the state of the UK in the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis. I moved to Sheffield in 1994 and remember the sense of welcome that was extended to Kosovan refugees. Fast forward 20 years and I couldn't help wondering what had happened to that offer of sanctuary. What had shifted in our media/politicians/ communities to become so hostile? With the support of organisations like City of Sanctuary and South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group we put together a week of events that spread awareness of the journeys refugees take. It got a positive response, particularly from people with mixed or migrant heritage, who gained a platform to share their experiences, culture, languages. What is your background? I was born in Philadelphia and moved to the UK when I was four. My mum is a Sicilian-Irish American and my dad hails from the West Country. My professional background is in theatre. I'm a producer for Roots Mbili Theatre, which is dedicated to a merge of African storytelling and British theatre-making practices. I had no previous experience in event planning and wasn't sure I'd be able to deliver the festival year on year, but it is now held annually in 25 venues across Sheffield. Even as we add high-profile names like Nadine Shah and Fatiha El-Ghorri we continue to programme local community members. Giving space to those whose voices are sidelined and silenced remains a key value. How do you meet the language needs of the festival's international artists? I think they've been surprised by just how well equipped the festival is to deal with language barriers. Our brilliant volunteer coordinator, Susan Morley, has worked with the British Red Cross for over 25 years. She finds volunteers from a range of backgrounds, but mostly people seeking asylum who are looking for work experience while they are unable to have paid work. The festival provides them with a really lovely place to build links, meet people from different cultures, get to know the city better and participate in the programme. This year, they spoke about 22 languages between them, including Amharic, Mandarin, Luganda, French, Bengali and Polish. This is an important asset to a festival that features so many different parts of the world. It means we can provide even greater access to the communities the festival serves. Our staff are also linguistically diverse, including Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, Ukrainian and Farsi. How is language diversity linked to the celebration of global cultures, and how does the festival programme reflect this? I think the power of the festival is that it acts as an invitation for people to come as they are. There's something quite problematic about the expectation that people who migrate to the UK should integrate and assimilate. Although it's important for people to have a grasp of English, the idea that people should be 'more English' is quite colonial. So we love to programme work that is told in different languages. It's so important that at the heart of artistic expression is that freeing feeling of speaking in your mother tongue. We have had shows that examine and unpick language, particularly ones that are being spoken by fewer people. We quite often have singers teaching the crowds songs in their language and it's really beautiful to see that exchange. What were some of your 2025 highlights? The main one for me was a workshop and public performance called Lullabies Project, led by Vilk Collective. People from across the city, mainly those who have sought sanctuary, talked and performed lullabies in their languages from their home countries. It was the most heartwarming event we've had. For the contributors it was both nostalgic and empowering to share something from childhood in their own language. GIVING VOICE Penguin by Hamzeh Al Hussien and Amy Golding (top); and Sam Holland (above) Fun of the festival PHOTO BY AL-HUSSEIN ABUTALEB PHOTO BY SMART BANDA

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