Blog

  • Words in the City | Bradford

    29 – 30 July 2017 Join us for a weekend of FREE poetry and family fun when Words in the City returns, as part of Bradford Festival. We have fantastic poetry themed drop in activities, a magical new show from the team behind Revolting Rhymes and a special performance from…more

  • McCarthy and Stone Competition Winners

    The winners of the A View From The Window competition were announced on Wednesday 19 April at An Evening with Sally Wainwright. The competition, which was run by our headline sponsors McCarthy and Stone to celebrate our new partnership, received dozens of entries and the judges were delighted to receive…more

  • Fierce Light Exhibition Preview & Event with Simon Armitage and Daljit NAgra

    Daljit Nagra is the 2017 Poet in Residence

    We are delighted to announce that Daljit Nagra has been appointed as 2017 Poet in Residence! Daljit Nagra is from a Sikh background and was born and grew up in West London then Sheffield. He has published three collections of poetry all with Faber & Faber. His poem Look We…more

  • Don’t Miss the ILF Spring Series Featuring Sally Wainwright

    Ilkley Literature Festival is offering a spring treat of three special events designed to inspire, provoke and engage audiences who just can’t wait until October. The Spring Series starts on Wednesday 19 April with screenwriter Sally Wainwright talking about her work and her love of the Brontës, former Chair of…more

  • Win a Mini Break With Our New Short Story and Poetry Competition!

    To celebrate our new partnership, McCarthy and Stone are launching a writing competition with the chance to win a break at the Devonshire Arms Hotel! McCarthy and Stone are asking Festival goers and local amateur writers, to pen short stories of up to 500 words or 20 lines of poetry…more

  • Bradford Young Writers Perform at Impressions Gallery

    In December 2016 our Bradford Young Writers Group performed work inspired by Impressions Gallery’s recent exhibition Planet Yorkshire. It was great to hear the work they had produced, especially as the group have been working together for less than a year, and for friends and family to get a taste…more

  • The Haunting: Ghosts of Every Shade at ILF16

    Simon Armitage reads his new ghost story, Elven Elms as part of The Haunting: Ghosts of Every Shades a thrilling, chilling, reflective and sometimes probing series of events and commissions exploring the ideas of ghosts and hauntings through poetry, performance, visual arts, dance and more, run by our partners Alchemy….more

  • New Responses to the Brontës – Zodwa Nyoni on Finding a Connection with Charlotte

    Zodwa Nyoni tells us more about how she found a connection with Charlotte. I’m standing in the dining room looking down at the small table where Charlotte, Emily and Anne sat around and wrote together. My desk is situated on the top floor of my house. It is away from…more

  • A Humument Exhibition

    With the help of the Festival Friends, Ilkley Parish Council, Friends of the Manor House and individual donors we were able to reopen the Manor House Museum for the duration of the 2016 Festival and host Tom Philips’ exhibition A Humument – his 50 year visual reworking of a forgotten…more

  • Read the 2016 Festival Newspaper

    Make a Newspaper in a Day and the Press Pack give Young People the chance to be journalists – reviewing Festival events, interviewing authors and publishing their work in the Festival Newspaper. Here is the 2016 edition of the Ilkley Insider!