Blog

  • Celebrating 400 Years of Shakespeare

    Tell us Which Plays we Should Read Live with Your Help in October Saturday 23 April marks 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare and we’ll be celebrating the life of the Bard in style at this year’s Festival in October. Amongst other things, we’ll be taking 4 plays and inviting you,…more

  • ©The Brontë Society

    Happy Birthday Charlotte Brontë!

    Today, 21 April 2016, marks 200 years since the birth of Charlotte Brontë. That Charlotte’s life and works have remained a source of fascination is testament to her talent, not just in creating enduring characters, but in bringing them to life in stories that have remained relevant and engaging for modern…more

  • Apply to be Apprentice Poet in Residence

    Applications for 2016 Apprentice Poet in Residence are now open. The Festival’s Apprentice Poet in Residence is an opportunity for an exceptional, emerging poet who is based in the Northern region and at the start of their career. As Apprentice Poet in Residence they will shadow this year’s Poet in…more

  • Visiting the Brontë Parsonage

    Over the course of the year and particularly when we are busy working on the Festival programme we go to lots of meetings at venues across the region, but today was particularly enjoyable as we were meeting with the team from the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Not only did we have…more

  • The Power of Words

    Ilkley Young Writers Group member Tadhg tells us about why he is hosting a storytelling event.   So how have I ended up writing poems and organising a story telling evening to fund my trip to Morocco with scouts? Well a long time ago in a town far, far away…more

  • Andrew McMillan returns as 2016 Poet in Residence

    We are delighted to announce that Andrew McMillan will be returning to Ilkley Literature Festival as our 2016 Poet in Residence. Andrew, who was Apprentice Poet in Residence in 2010, recently became the first poet to win the Guardian First Book Award for his collection, Physical which was also shortlisted…more

  • Poets busking outside the Manor House Museum

    Apply to the Fringe!

    We are now taking applications for the 2016 Ilkley Literature Festival Fringe. Groups or individuals from, or with strong links to, the Yorkshire Region are invited to submit an application to present a Fringe Event at the Festival in 2016. Writers, poets and live literature performers of all kinds including…more

  • Chicken Shop: Making Shakespeare Relevant to Young People

    In November last year Mark Rylance suggested that Shakespeare’s words were being delivered too slowly and with too much intellectual reverence. “It is like taking a rap song in 400 years from now that we think is really wonderful and deciding it should be said slowly so all the lovers…more

  • Ilkley Literature Festival and Author Fees

    In recent months the issue of how literary festivals pay the authors, poets and speakers appearing at their events has been a subject of much debate and as we go into 2016 it seems a good moment to clarify our position. We’ve said publicly for many years that one day…more

  • 2015 Poetry Competition Results

    1st John Foggin Short back and sides 2nd Jacqueline P. Haskell Cora 3rd Ian Royce Chamberlain A Handful of Water Highly Commended Sharon Black Thirty Seventh View of Mt. Fuji Philip Dunn Reginald Joseph Mitchell Cathy Galvin Rough Translation Blake Morrison’s Judgement: The poems on this year’s shortlist not only demonstrate…more