Syima Aslam is the CEO and Artistic Director of the Bradford Literature Festival (BLF); a 10-day literary and cultural celebration hailed as one of the most innovative and inspirational festivals in the UK. Since Aslam founded the festival in 2014, BLF has become the largest literature festival in the UK and awarded the title of ‘Europe’s Most Diverse & Inclusive Arts Festival’. BLF’s reach extends across the UK and the world, having so far welcomed an audience of over 895,000 from 34 countries. In 2025 alone, BLF welcomed 187,366 audiences to over 750 events, ranging from discussions on the climate crisis, health and wellbeing, to world affairs and politics. Aslam has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford. In 2022, she became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her achievements to date for services to literature.