Ilkley Literature Festival returns next month with another impressive line-up
Next month sees the return of Ilkley Literature Festival, the annual celebration of books, ideas and words that has been delighting audiences for more than half a century. This year another impressive line-up of novelists, poets, politicians, journalists, academics, historians and comedians is heading to venues around the spa town across 17 days in October.
Now in its 52nd year, the festival, the second longest-running in the UK which delivers consistently high-quality, diverse programming, continues to go from strength to strength. After a challenging couple of years, experienced by all arts organisations post-Covid, in terms of ticket sales, audience numbers and engagement, it appears to be very much back on track. “I think over the pandemic which saw a lot of events moving into the digital sphere, people do want to come together in person and have a communal experience at festivals,” says Erica Morris, director of Ilkley Literature Festival. “The good news is that it is not just us; festivals in general are really thriving.”
Headliners at this year’s festival include poet laureate Simon Armitage who will be reading from his two new poetry collections, Dwell and New Cemetery; national treasure Michael Palin will be talking about his latest travels in Venezuela; Lady Hale, former President of the Supreme Court discusses the British justice system and her book With the Law on Our Side; Mary Portas discusses her book I Shop Therefore I Am, an account of her time as window dresser and creative director for Harvey Nichols in the 1990s; Jung Chang follows up her internationally bestselling 1991 memoir Wild Swans of herself, her mother and grandmother with Fly, Wild Swans bringing the story of her family and China up to date; and Jay Rayner will be entertaining audiences with a talk about his 25-year career as a restaurant critic.
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Comedian Alan Davies takes audiences into the world of stand-up comedy in his latest memoir White Male Stand-Up; and novelists Rachel Joyce and Esther Freud discuss the nuances of family relationships in their new novels The Homemade God and My Sister and Other Lovers. Paddington and Downton Abbey star and bestselling memoirist Hugh Bonneville will be talking about his career and also appearing at a second event introducing families to his debut children’s book Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room, while festival favourite Gyles Brandreth returns to discuss his latest book Somewhere, A Boy and A Bear, a biography of A A Milne on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Winnie-the-Pooh.
Poetry is always a strong strand in the festival and this year there is a special event marking the 40th anniversary of Leeds-born poet Tony Harrison’s seminal work ‘V’ about the desecration of his parents’ graves in Holbeck cemetery. Published in 1985 and considered controversial at the time, the poem was a visceral, robust and angry piece, written during the miners’ strike, which lamented divisions in society as well as opposing forces within individuals. “I think it’s a timely point in our public discourse to look at what Tony was saying back in the mid-1980s which was a turbulent time,” says Morris. “We can see the fissures that are showing in society now and the poem is brilliant in helping us to explain and explore some of those tensions. We have commissioned three acclaimed contemporary Northern poets Malika Booker, Jo Clement and Paul Farley to reimagine the poem for this moment in time.” They will be sharing their poems in an event hosted by award-winning poet Andrew McMillan.
The festival is produced and programmed by Yorkshire-based arts charity Word Up North that champions voices, stories and writers in the North of England. Their work continues year-round and includes new writing and talent development programmes such as New Northern Poets – one of their alumni Claire Lynn has just been shortlisted for the Forward Prize – and engagement with schools, young people and communities across the North. This year the team has also been working with the BBC and Bradford 2025 to produce the Contains Strong Language festival.
With our public discourse becoming increasingly divisive, literature festivals are more important than ever; they play a crucial role in providing an opportunity for reasoned debate on pressing issues that affect us all. “Our aim when we are programming is to create that safe space for people to have open conversations,” says Morris. “It is somewhere you can go and listen to someone who you might not necessarily agree with, but you might then come away with a different perspective. We are trying to preserve that safe space and provide a forum for sharing ideas; that is a really important part of what we do.”
Ilkley Literature Festival, October 3-19, 2025. Tickets and to view the full programme visit ilkleylitfest.org.uk