Poet to recall his memories of resort

Mr Armitage, from Huddersfield, will be reading from his new collection Seeing Stars when on the festival's opening night on Friday, June 11.

He said: "I spent many holidays in Bridlington, most of them walking between the town and Sewerby along the cliffs, looking enviously at those who went past on the model train.

"I liked the zoo; a hyacinth macaw would come and sit on your shoulder, and a llama once spat at my dad.

"It was a lifetime ago, another country, and I'm looking forward to being there again."

Highly acclaimed Irish poet Paul Durcan will be the main attraction the following evening.

Other highlights include three "poetry doubles" events, in which a major poet reads with his or her own choice of another poet at first-collection stage. Poetry doubles was first staged at Friargate Theatre in York in 2003, when then Poet Laureate Andrew Motion launched the series with his choice of Colette Bryce.

Bryce in turn has chosen Katharine Kilalea as her partner for as pairing in Bridlington.

Kilalea, whose debut collection, One Eye'd Leigh (Carcanet) was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2009, was born in South Africa and now lives in London.

Bryce will also appear alongside the festival's assistant director, Antony Dunn, reading from and talking about the poetry of Dorothy Molloy, who died in 2004, just days before the publications by Faber of her first collection, Hare Soup.

Hull University Professor James Booth will mark the 25th anniversary years of Philip Larkin's death with a talk entitled Larkin's Rhymes.