The Gibraltar Tourist Board have announced the first authors who will participate in the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival 2024. 

A statement from the Government follows below:

Sir Graham Brady 

Sir Graham Brady will discuss his new book, Kingmaker: Secrets, Lies, and the Truth about Five Prime  Ministers.  

He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale West 1997-2024, and was  Chairman of the 1922 Committee for 14 years - spanning coalition government, Brexit and five  Conservative Prime Ministers. At Sir Graham’s election to Parliament in 1997 aged just 29, he was  the youngest Conservative MP in the House, and he has dutifully served his constituency for over  25 years. He served as a whip before holding positions on the Shadow Cabinet under three  Conservative leaders while in opposition, including Shadow Minister for Schools and Shadow  Europe Minister, stepping down from the frontbench in 2007. 

In 2010 he was elected Chairman of the 1922 Committee, the Parliamentary Group of the  Conservative Party in the House of Commons, representing the interests of backbench  Conservative MPs. He has continued in that position unchallenged since – making him the longest  serving Chairman of the 1922 Committee to date. In that time, he has presided over the four  changes of Conservative Leader – and thus Prime Minister – and been a key player in one of the  most turbulent political periods in British history. 

Born in Salford in 1967, Sir Graham studied law at Durham university where he served as Chair of  the Durham University Conservative Association. Knighted for political and public service in 2018,  Sir Graham was appointed a Privy Counsellor in October 2023. A former Governor of Manchester  Metropolitan University, he is patron of the Counselling and Family Centre in Altrincham and a  trustee of the Sutton Trust and the Jubilee Centre in Bowdown. He is a keen supporter of  Stockdales, a Manchester-based charity supporting children and adults with learning disabilities. 

Graham was made a life peer in the Dissolution honours list in 2024. He is married with two grown up children. 

Asad Qureshi 

British documentary filmmaker Asad Qureshi will participate in a Q&A style presentation on his  experience as a Taliban hostage, detailed in his book, 165 Days-Prisoner of the Taliban.

Asad Qureshi’s chance meeting with Oscar winning film director John Schlesinger while he was  directing Yanks in the Bradford area led to his introduction into the film industry. Since then he has  learnt to set himself apart from the normal run of the mill genre in film making by selecting  assignments to focus on that have undertones of danger and are a challenge. Difficult geographical  terrains and complexity of subjects have always fascinated him and drew him to such projects. Over  time, he has become known as someone who is totally dedicated and uncompromising on his quest  to uncover and tell the truth. He has straddled different cultures and continents in his search for  the truth; he worked with the A tier cast and crews from the US with large budgets to almost one  man bands do-everything himself documentaries on shoe-string budgets. 

As for the last disastrous campaign, he travelled to the heart of the Taliban territory to film a peace making initiative between the Taliban, Pakistan and the Western Allies. The trip under-taken by  Asad and his three colleagues, Khalid Khawaja, Col Imam and Rustam Khan went horribly off script  as they were betrayed and all four ended up being captives of the Taliban. Demands for ransom,  release of Taliban prisoners followed. Just over a month into their captivity Asad’s dear friend and  guide Khalid Khawaja was executed. After 165 days of captivity Asad and his assistant were  released sadly six months later Col Imam was executed. Asad continues to make films and holds the  memory of Khalid Khawaja and Col Imam dear to his heart. 

Deb Bunt and Peter Berry 

Peter and Deb will talk about living well with a dementia diagnosis. Their talk will cover overcoming  adversity, realising ambitions and the power of friendship. Although their book, Slow Puncture, Living  well with Dementia, was published four years ago and Peter's condition has changed, the themes in  the book remain relevant.  

Six years ago, a rather disillusioned Deb took early retirement from her job at the Youth Offending  Service in London and moved to Suffolk with her husband. This is where she met Peter and the two  became friends and cycling partners. Deb had two ambitions in life: one - for Arsenal to win the  champions league and two -to become a published writer. Meeting Peter has enabled the fulfilment  of one of these ambitions. The friendship with Peter has also enabled Deb to look at life through a  different lens and to appreciate the ‘here and now.’ In the six years since her move to Suffolk, Deb  has acquired one broken shoulder, had two books published, accrued four grandchildren and made  an extremely great and life changing friend in Peter. And Arsenal still haven’t won the champions  league. 

Suffolk-born Peter was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when he was 50 and given a life expectancy of  8 to 10 years. Now 60, Peter continues to live well and to embrace life with positivity. Previously  the owner of a thriving timber business, Peter was forced to give up work shortly after his diagnosis.  Following a period of deep depression, which included two suicide attempts, Peter determined that  he would live well with this life-changing condition. He now fills his days by cycling and giving  presentations and talks about living well with dementia. Peter has raised thousands of pounds for  dementia charities through his cycling challenges - including a 300 mile challenge on his penny  farthing and it was this challenge which prompted Deb to write the book, "Slow Puncture". Peter’s  most recent challenge was to cycle 100 miles in one day on his penny farthing, a feat which he  completed with aplomb and cramp! Peter is married to Teresa, and they have one daughter.

The book was one of twenty UK-wide chosen by The Reading Agency to be available in every library  authority in England and Wales and has now been translated into Welsh. To celebrate the book’s  inclusion onto the Reading Well for Dementia list, Peter and Deb recently were invited to the House  of Commons to talk about Slow Puncture. Their story is a journey that continues… 

The Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival will take place from 11th – 17th November 2024.  

The Minister for Equality, Employment, Culture and Tourism, The Hon. Christian Santos GMD MP,  said: ‘I’m delighted to announce the first of an exciting line up of authors for the 2024 edition of the  Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival. The diversity of these authors’ incredible life experiences is just  a taste of the strong line-up to come.’