1 – 17 October 2021

Not Quite Right for Us is a stellar new anthology which explores the many ways we’ve all been made to feel ‘not quite right’ at some time or another. Francesca…more

Join celebrated US authors Curtis Sittenfeld and Maggie Shipstead as they share what inspires them to tell the stories of determined, powerful and pioneering women through their fiction, with author…more

British broadcaster, writer, economist and former MP, Ed Balls was just three weeks old when he tried his first meal: puréed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. While perhaps ill-advised by…more

Selkie Press founder Tanya Shadrick (a rural working-class writer first published after forty) will be returning to the festival to provide six free mentoring opportunities for those wishing to build…more

Clara Barley’s novel reimagines the story of neighbouring Yorkshire landowners, Anne Lister and Ann Walker, who find themselves entwined in a passionate, forbidden relationship and retreat to Moss House, their…more

Narrated with seductive confidence and subversive wit, Lauren Oyler’s first novel Fake Accounts challenges the way current conversations about the self and community, delusions and gaslighting, and fiction and reality…more

On 19th June 1953, Ethel Rosenberg became the first woman in the US to be executed for a crime other than murder: conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the…more

On 19th June 1953, Ethel Rosenberg became the first woman in the US to be executed for a crime other than murder: conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the…more

Friends do it, strangers do it and even chimpanzees do it – and it’s not just deeply embedded in our history and culture, it may even be written in our…more

ILF 2021 Poet in Residence Ian Duhig curates a showcase featuring four of the most exciting and lauded poets working today to reflect on the festival’s themes of ‘belonging’ and…more

Award-winning documentary filmmaker and best-selling author Tim Tate is joined by acclaimed spy historian Trevor Barnes to discuss some of the most gripping true stories of Cold War history. From…more

Award-winning documentary filmmaker and best-selling author Tim Tate is joined by acclaimed spy historian Trevor Barnes to discuss some of the most gripping true stories of Cold War history. From…more

London, 1965. An unworldly young woman believes that a charismatic psychotherapist, Collins Braithwaite, has driven her sister to suicide. Intent on confirming her suspicions, she assumes a false identity and…more

Barbara Hepworth is now acknowledged as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Hepworth Gallery curator Eleanor Clayton’s fascinating new biography offers a penetrating insight into the…more

Barbara Hepworth is now acknowledged as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Hepworth Gallery curator Eleanor Clayton’s fascinating new biography offers a penetrating insight into the…more

Join Kadija George Sesay Hon FRSL, Margaret Busby and Kerry Young for a fascinating insight into the role of judges in literary awards as they discuss what judges are looking…more

In her provocative new essay, Something Out of Place, Eimear McBride – the author of the novels A Girl is a Half-formed Thing (winner of the 2014 Women’s Prize for…more

ILF 2021 Poet in Residence Ian Duhig premieres Rosa Alba, Rosa Mundi (‘Yorkshire Rose, Rose of the World’), a commission for Ilkley Literature Festival. The performance of poetry, prose and…more

ILF 2021 Poet in Residence Ian Duhig premieres Rosa Alba, Rosa Mundi (‘Yorkshire Rose, Rose of the World’), a commission for Ilkley Literature Festival. The performance of poetry, prose and…more

Are millennials entitled and lazy? Are baby boomers the most sexually liberal generation? Was generation X the last group to show loyalty to political parties? Polling expert and professor of…more