How Ilkley Literature festival has helped to place Yorkshire on the cultural map

For almost half a century, the West Yorkshire spa town has hosted a literary festival which has attracted names who regularly feature on best seller lists, alongside writers with niche interests who attract learned audiences.

This year, the festival will feature TV stars, poets, politicians, actors and adventurers as the town welcomes thousands of visitors who are keen to see their favourite authors in the flesh. Ilkley is proud of its title as the longest-standing literature festival in the North.

To quote JB Priestley, who was a regular visitor: “Ilkley is the right size for a festival town…large enough to provide various amenities and small enough to stroll around and run into everybody.”

Priestley wrote these words in support of the first Ilkley Literature Festival, but they still ring true half a century later.

Established in 1973, the festival was launched by W. H. Auden in one of the poet’s last public appearances.

Writers who have passed through Ilkley include Booker prize winners like Margaret Atwood and renowned poets closer to home, such as Ted Hughes.

Erica Morris, the Ilkley Literature Festival Director, said: “The aim of the festival is to bring people together to create conversations, tackle tricky topics and encourage exploration.

"It is a fantastic chance to broaden our horizons after the difficult last few years. Books are truly adventures into other lives and worlds. We hope our annual literary celebration offers a tonic to audiences, who we can’t wait to welcome in glorious Ilkley.”

The festival opens with Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan on Friday October 7 and runs until 23 October. Headline acts include actor, co-creator of Gavin & Stacey and author, Ruth Jones, who will discuss her new novel Love Untold, a story of mothers, daughters and final chances.

Ardal O’Hanlon, star of another TV comedy series, Father Ted, will feature with his darkly comic novel and satire on Ireland’s politics, Brouhaha.

The Leeds-born broadcaster Gabby Logan, talks about The First Half – her candid memoir detailing her brother’s early death and navigating sexism at work. And the broadcaster Melvyn Bragg offers a personal insight into his life with Back in the Day, a memoir that revisits his younger years.

The adventurer and television presenter Leo Houlding will discuss his book Closer to the Edge, which provides an insight into the extreme life of a mountain climber. Lord Chris Pattern explores the moment Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese, with his five-year diary of the event, The Hong Kong Diaries. Sir Vince Cable, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, will talk about his new book, How to be a Politician.

This year’s festival offers more than 90 in-person and digital events. Talks and workshops are hosted at All Saints’ Church, Ilkley Grammar School, Ilkley Playhouse and King’s Hall.

Five festival themes feature in the programme: The Things We Leave Behind, Hidden Figures, The Books That Made Us, Big Britain vs Little England, and Explore Moor; a pun on Ilkley’s famed moor. These run throughout the in-person and digital events, workshops and micro-commissions.

For Ms Morris, getting involved in the Ilkley Literature Festival was a way of forging a deep connection with a part of the country she loved.

She said: “I am from north Leeds originally and have worked in arts organisations and other festivals around the country. One of the festival's themes are the importance of links between literature and landscape.”

“Works of literature are often formed by the landscape around them. During the pandemic so many people realised the benefit of being outside, in terms of your physical and mental health.”

She believes audiences will be captivated by the festival’s range of events.

She said: “For example, Irving Finkel, curator at the British Museum, will look at ghosts and how they appear in different cultures and Dennis Duncan will talk about the history of the index, which makes you think about something you always take for granted.

"It provides an insight into pockets of the world that you might never have thought about.

"Ilkley is in a lovely part of the world, on the edge of the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales and the audience attracted to the festival are incredibly well read and curious.

"We have the chance to explore themes which might not always make the front tables of book shops.

"I know a lot of people started friendships after meeting at events in Ilkley. Writing can be a lonely profession and it can be wonderful for writers to see and hear from people who are consuming the fruits of their labour.

"Books are instruments of cultural change,’’ she said. “We are definitely seeing an upsurge in bookings from where we were last year, but we are conscious of the cost of living crisis. In the past, people might have gone to six or seven events and now they are just going to two or three which is understandable."

"It takes a lot of work, all year round, to stage a festival, working with our small team, the venues and our amazing volunteers. You form a really tight bond with the people around you. I hope the audience is inspired to experience something new and try reading an author they have never considered before. It's all about curiosity and wanting to understand more about the world. ”

Tickets and the full programme can be viewed at the website at www.ilkleylitfest.org.uk