Ilkley Literature Festival is building on its long legacy as a platform for poets this year, with a distinctly northern programme of poetry events. A major theme for the October festival is In Verse: The Rising of the North.
The north’s longest standing literary festival was opened in 1973 by the poet W.H. Auden and has been a dedicated champion of poetry ever since with appearances from luminaries including Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes, and Carol Ann Duffy.
It commissioned the 50-mile Stanza Stones Poetry Trail with Simon Armitage, which was completed in 2012. The Poet Laureate returns this October as a headline guest as he reads from his new upcoming collection, New Cemetery inspired by the conversion of a local natural beauty spot into a municipal graveyard near his home in West Yorkshire.
The festival also showcases a series of new poetry commissions, centred on Tony Harrison’s controversial poem, ‘V.’ which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
The poem was written during the Miners’ Strike and explores class, alienation, anger, and Northern identity. A televised performance made headlines and divided the nation due to Harrison’s use of profanities.
‘V.’ Reimagined is chaired by the Yorkshire poet Andrew McMillan and brings together three acclaimed Northern poets - Malika Booker, Jo Clement, and Paul Farley. The commission is a partnership with New Writing North and will be replicated at Durham and Manchester Literature Festivals.
![[Poet Malika Booker]](https://mmo.aiircdn.com/409/68c1ac018c4ef.jpeg)
[Poet Malika Booker]
Festival Director, Erica Morris, said:
“We’ve been showcasing the cutting edge of poetry since our inaugural festival in 1973. This year our poetry strand has a distinctly northern accent. As well as welcoming the Poet Laureate, audiences can hear from the rising stars of the poetry scene and discover the talent coming out of the University of Leeds Poetry Centre.”
The festival’s New Northern Poets showcase features six emerging poets selected from a competitive application process to take part in a mentoring programme run by the University of Leeds Centre for Poetry and Word Up North, now in its third year.
The six will debut new work resulting from their one-to-one mentoring with experienced poets. They’ll also take part in commissions, including podcasting, leading workshops, and reading groups, to help develop their poetic practice and expand their network.
The six are: Nóra Blascsók, a Hungarian poet based in Manchester; York-based Rachel Curzon; Nigeen Dara, a British-Kurdish doctor and finalist in the 2023 BBC Words First programme; Jamie Field, a Blackpool-based poet and winner of the inaugural Disabled Poets Prize; Vanessa Napolitano, a British/American poet who lives in Saltaire, and Laura Strickland, a carer and poet.
This year’s mentors include Zaffar Kunial, shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and Costa Poetry Award; Charlotte Eichler, shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Prize and Maia Elsner, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.
To book https://www.ilkleylitfest.org.uk Box Office: 01943 816714.
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