Bigger And Better! The Ilkley Literature Festival Returns In October

Inaugurated in 1973 by W.H. Auden, Ilkley Literature Festival launches its 2019 event with the help of another poet - the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage.

Across 17 days in October authors from the worlds of literature, science, journalism, philosophy, poetry, politics and stage and screen will descend on the elegant Yorkshire town.

This year’s big names include David Suchet, Prue Leith, the Booker-longlisted authors Oyinkan Braithwaite and John Lanchester, and Clare Balding, who headlines the Children’s Festival alongside Mr Gum creator, Andy Stanton, and Conn Iggulden with the return of his Dangerous Book for Boys.

Armitage is a long standing friend and creative collaborator of the ILF. Renowned for its commitment to poetry, this year the festival features Pam Ayres, Raymond Antrobus and Lemn Sissay, with panels on Yeats and a strand focussing on ‘writing, rebellion and revolution’, and new commissions from 2019’s Poets in Residence - Colette Bryce, Genevieve Carver and Shash Trevett. Gyles Brandreth will celebrate his passion for the best-loved poems in the English language with his new book, Dancing by the Light of the Moon.

Politics is once more on the agenda with Alastair Campbell, Chris Mullin, and the Executive Director of the campaigning website, Change.org, Kajal Odedra. Steve Richards will discuss his new book, The Prime Ministers, and the Guardian’s investigative journalist Amelia Gentleman talks to historian Colin Grant about the Windrush betrayal.

Other notable journalists will include BBC broadcaster and musician Mark Radcliffe, Kirsty Wark on her latest novel, Penny Junor, Martin Sixsmith, Paul Mason and the editor of GQ, Dylan Jones.

Swinging through the sixties, the legendary TV writing duo Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais –creators of beloved British comedies such as Porridge – will discuss their peerless double act. And the satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe talks of his memoir which recounts his time at Punch and Private Eye.

With a focus on science and space in the anniversary year of the moon landing, there’s a stargazing walk on the iconic Ilkley Moor. Science writer Oliver Morton explores our relationship with the moon. Science journalist Angela Saini discusses race science in her book Superior, and Nessa Carey explores gene modification. Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE will also present her grand tour of the solar system as part of the space-themed Children’s Festival.

With a strand on ‘World Changing Women’, Caroline Criado-Perez discusses her book Invisible Women which explores the gender data gap. BBC’s former China editor, Carrie Gracie, shares her battle over equal pay. The neuroscientist Daphna Joel presents her game-changing research into gender, and there will be a special one-off event on 21 November with Yvette Cooper MP on her timely and personal anthology, The Power of Women’s Voices looking at the greatest speeches of all time.

History will be represented in talks by Tom Holland and Tracy Borman, with horticulture courtesy of the Guardian’s own Alys Flower. For foodies, Prue Leith will appear in conversation with the Guardian writer, Felicity Cloake, who, in turn, will be presenting her food travelogue, One More Croissant for the Road. There’s a tour of Yorkshire’s beers and a journey into a Cheesemaker’s History of the British Isles with Ned Palmer.

Bibliophiles will enjoy Shaun Bythell who presents The Confessions of a Bookseller - the follow up to his wry diaries.

Professor Kathryn Sunderland and Principle Curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Ann Dinsdale, will examine the complexities of preserving literary legacies in the UK amid a voracious global market for the memorabilia of Brontë and Austen. Toby Faber of the famed Faber & Faber draws on previously unpublished letters for an insight into one of the world’s greatest publishing houses. What’s more there will be a retrospective look at the life of Catherine Cookson.

Crime writers Peter Robinson and Denise Mina will feature, as will authors Sadie Jones, Tim Lott, Janet Ellis, and philosopher A.C. Grayling.

With an ever-growing ‘Fringe’, bespoke film screenings, and workshops for poets, writers and readers, the ever-eclectic Festival will offer something for everyone in October.

Full programme: ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk
Box Office: 01943 816714.
Follow @ilkleylitfest