Image courtesy of Paul Stuart Photography Ltd

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 40^th 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. 

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.

I was recently asked out to dinner by a new friend. It was wonderful – delicious food and perhaps a little too much of a rather nice Barolo. But now my dilemma – the return invitation. What to cook? I admit to lacking the enthusiasm for hours over a hot hob these days, but thanks to my dear friends at Tracklements I find I can cheat.

I absolutely love Tracklements, a Wiltshire-based family company who create quality food, using only simple, honest ingredients. All their products are made by hand in small batches, using ingredients sourced from farms and small businesses across England. They’re constantly creating new and exciting products which means there’s always a large selection of high quality, delicious and innovative products, and their latest invention – Shallot & Garlic Jam is to die for. Made with shallots, raw cane sugar, cider and balsamic vinegars, garlic, red chillies, sunflower oil, salt and black pepper – that’s it – simple pure ingredients as always. And the taste is divine, the rich warmth of the shallots and garlic mixed with the heat from the chillies – it adds depth to a cheese board, or a gourmet burger – or mix it into a hake and bean stew to instantly raise the dish to cordon bleu level (guess what I’m preparing for my friend’s visit).

Available at Tracklements £4.20 for 190g jar – delicious.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q
http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

Frost Magazine has raved about the Tormek T-1 Kitchen Knife Sharpener before – with its fine-grained diamond grinding wheel, it’s both exquisitely beautiful and incredibly useful. The first real knife sharpener for the home chef, unusually for a home device, it sharpens the entire bevel of the knife, achieving professional sharpness in minutes.

And now for exciting news – Tormek have added a new colour – Linen White. The soft, creamy off-white and contrasting Morakniv red Swedish birch handle is simply eye-catching and makes a perfect complement to the sleek and stylish range.

RRP £350, or as a set with the Morakniv 1891 Utility Knife RRP £450, available from shop.tormek.co.uk. Built to last with an 8 year warranty.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q
http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

Ilkley Literature Festival explores the theme Soft Power with a series of author talks on power players, philosophers, peacemakers, and psychological warfare. The north’s longest-running literary festival returns in its 52^nd year with some of the country’s leading minds in politics, history, and academia discussing big ideas across 17 days in venues across the spa town.

In the panel Frontlines of Psychological Warfare, Times Radio political reporter Terry Stiastny discusses her book Believable Lies – the untold story of a secret British organisation, the Political Warfare Executive, briefed to wage psychological warfare to beat the Nazis. She’s in conversation with the former head of international news at the Guardian, Charlie English, with his book The CIA Book Club – the astonishing story of how ten million books were smuggled across the Iron Curtain in an attempt to win the Cold War with literature.

The festival also examines the legacies of influential but overlooked figures throughout history. Journalist Yvonne Singh’s book, INK! From Empire to Black Power explores the pioneering journalists who addressed global racial injustice and whose work acted as a catalyst for change, covering a transformative period from the age of empire to the heady start of the 1980s.

Thant Myint-U, grandson of the UN’s longest-serving Secretary-General U Thant, traces his grandfather’s rise from schoolteacher to the centre of global politics, with his book, Peacemaker. One of America’s most admired men in the 1970s, U Thant is largely forgotten today.Erica Morris, Director at Ilkley Literature Festival, said: “Soft Power is a festival strand that promises fascinating and enlightening discussions around politics, history, society, race, and gender politics. We invite our audience to re-examine figures and events often lost or forgotten in history, despite their remarkable influence.” The award-winning biographer Sonia Purnell will unveil the spectacular story of one of the mos t powerful women of the 20^th century – Pamela Churchill Harriman. Her book, Kingmaker, explores how Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law left an indelible mark on the world today, influencing everyone from the Kennedys to Nelson Mandela.

At the dawn of the 20th century the philosopher Henri Bergson was the most famous philosopher on earth. An international celebrity, he made headlines around the world, yet has since faded from historical view. Author Emily Herring revives his story and how Bergson transformed 20^th century thought with her book, Herald of a Restless World.

In literature, Dr Jill Liddington presents Writing Women Up North. Looking beyond the Brontës, Liddington promises a revealing talk on fascinating northern women writers from icons such as Anne Lister, who wrote five-million-word diaries, to Selina Cooper, one of the 29,000 Lancashire women cotton workers who signed and took their suffrage petition down to Westminster. Biographer Valerie Waterhouse reclaims an exceptional, overlooked Yorkshire woman, Malachi Whitaker, as her 1939 memoir of life in Bradford on the cusp of war is finally being republished. Waterhouse puts the spotlight back on the author lauded by the likes of Vita Sackville-West; over 50 of Whitaker’s stories were broadcast on the BBC. 

Soft Power is one of several strands at 2025’s festival, alongside Talking Politics, Doing Justice, The Dark Side of the Internet, Novel Ideas, Explore Moor, Food for Thought and In Verse: The Rising of the North. Authors appearing this year include Jung Chang, Mary Portas, Alan Davies, Jay Raynor, Hugh Bonneville, Nick Clegg, Ruby Tandoh, Simon Armitage, Michael Palin, Lady Hale, Rachel Joyce, and Irvine Welsh.

To book https://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/ Box Office: 01943 816714.

Whitby Lit Fest has announced a series of events to showcase local talent, and the coastal town, at its inaugural festival this November. Poetry and music combine in Sea Here which features three North Yorkshire poets – Wendy Pratt, Charlotte Oliver, and Rowena Sommerville – alongside beautiful singing from the A cappella group, The Marigolds. From the personal to the cosmic, the all-female line up promises to leave audiences entertained, refreshed, and uplifted.

Writer Bob Fischer invites audiences on a journey through folklore spanning 12,000 years of history taking in Freebrough Hill alongside the A171 moorland road to Whitby. He’s joined by Teesside poet Bob Beagrie, performing extracts from his new collection, The Hand of Glory. Whitby audiences can enjoy a special event celebrating the remarkable collaboration between Whitby’s Dogwood Productions and the Teesside organisation, Going For Independence. Supported by Arts Council England, the two groups produced a four-part audio drama co-created with blind and partially sighted participants.

Each episode was developed by community groups in Redcar, Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton, alongside professional writers, and actors. This session reunites the writers and performers for a discussion and playback of the drama, which features a young couple, struggling to run the recently inherited guest house, Bel View, in a fictitious resort north of Whitby. Adele Duffield Community Development Librarian and committee member of Whitby Lit Fest, said: “We are thrilled to add more inspiring events to the festival line-up. From coastal poets and community theatre to workshops, performance and untold histories, this programme celebrates the richness of words and voices in all their forms.”

A writing workshop, First Person Singular – Writing Monologues That Speak to an Audience will be hosted by the writer Suzanne Elvidge, who lives on the coast near Whitby. Suzanne will guide participants through the craft of writing monologues, from first idea to final draft.

Suzanne’s own writing crosses science and the Arts. She writes fiction about lost and forgotten women’s voices based on interviews, news stories, historical events and the overheard. Dancing in Heaven, her first solo collection of monologues is due out in December 2025. Whitby writer Julie Noble, whose memoir appeared in Kit de Waal’s Common People: An Anthology of Working-Class Writers, leads an interactive workshop – Rusty Shears – exploring how Whitby has inspired writers from Caedmon to Atkinson, and Gaskell to Brody. Participants will explore classic and contemporary voices before creating their own work inspired by the town.

The Yorkshire crime author, David Mark, a former crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post turned bestselling novelist, will host a workshop on plot, place, and character. And for aspiring poets, Harry Gallagher presents a creative writing workshop exploring ideas inspired by the Whitby coast. Harry runs the North East Stanza of the Poetry Society. The writer and performer Noreen Nasim shares the extraordinary and moving story of expulsion from Uganda, exploring identity, resilience, and belonging. Her performance brings a powerful new voice to Whitby. The inaugural Whitby Lit Fest, which runs from 6 to 9 November, welcomes household names alongside a celebration of the unique literary heritage of the town and diverse and thought-provoking local talent.

Rebeka Russell, who set up the independent publishing imprint Manderley Press, grew up in Whitby. She’ll be discussing her 2026 release of Storm Jameson’s Whitby-inspired novel, The Moon is Making, as well as the wider influence of the town’s history and architecture on literature with the writer, broadcaster and academic, Dr Katherine Cooper. The festival falls on the anniversary of Bram Stoker’s birth on 8 November. Exploring Stoker’s seminal Dracula, The Working-Class Library will record a live podcast with their guest author, the Yorkshire writer, Adelle Stripe. Adelle will be in conversation with the CEO of New Writing North, Claire Malcolm, and the writer Richard Benson – a former editor of the iconic magazine The Face. They’ll explore the working-class credentials and perspectives of Stoker’s classic.

Also joining the line up are gothic literature experts, Dr Michael Stewart, and Dr Claire O’Callaghan, discussing Stewart’s latest novel, Black Wood Women, in the wider context of how and why gothic fiction evolved. They’ll also be a New Blood panel on Stoker’s undying legacy, featuring local author Amanda Mason and Leticia Lentini, who runs the Whitby independent publisher, The Crow Emporium. Mason also features on the panel, Gothic Tales, with fellow author Essie Fox.

Celebrating Charles Dickens literary links to Whitby, his great, great, great grand-daughter Lucinda Hawksley hosts an entertaining author dinner at the original coaching inn Dickens stayed – The White Horse and Griffin. Diners can enjoy a three-course menu at £40 per head. The festival also welcomes two children’s authors who have set their latest books in Whitby. Former Blue Peter presenter, Yvette Fielding discusses her children’s book, The Vampire of Whitby, and Emma Carroll brings her brand-new adventure series, Dracula & Daughters. It also welcomes cult writer Paul Magrs, whose Brenda and Effie Mystery series are set in a Whitby BnB, and have been optioned for TV. Young adult authors S.J Baker and Liz Hyder, winner of the 2024 Nero Book Awards prize, also feature.

Sir Alan Ayckbourn © Tony Bartholomew

Headline acts for 2025 include Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Miriam Margolyes, Lee Child, Rob Rinder, Shaun Usher, and Steph McGovern with more than 50 authors expected to descend on Whitby.

Tickets, from £5 available at: https://whitbylitfest.org.uk/