"I am very happy to be a patron of Huddersfield Literature Festival, where established authors will be able to give a platform for new writers to launch their work to the public. It is so difficult to be a new writer nowadays and yet there has never been more exciting new talent and more interest in books. I am delighted to be associated with this project."
Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat
"Words are the backbone of my life, as an actor. Therefore it is my absolute pleasure to be asked to be a patron for Huddersfield Literature Festival. It's fitting that what has been described as 'the poetry capital of the North', finally has its own literature festival. This emerging and dynamic new festival is dedicated to celebrating the power of words, wherever we may find them.May you enjoy all that the festival has to offer."
Patrick Stewart, actor and Chancellor of the University
Competition Winners!
1st Place: Mark Jervis - The Hooded Men
To read the piece, click HERE
" I allowed myself to be surprised and utterly delighted. I’m my own worst critic and, as an inexperienced writer, to have a story acknowledged and supported in this way has been a tremendous boost to my confidence. It’s the best encouragement and incentive I could possibly have wished for and the obvious enthusiasm and passion for literature shown by everyone involved in the competition is very refreshing".
2nd Place: Sally Baker - Man Leaving
To read the piece, click HERE
'Beast Market' was a great theme, because it could mean so many different things. The photographs were very inspiring, both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, like the lives of the people in them. The photo I chose to base my poem on had a strong atmosphere - red walls, light streaming in at the foot of the stairs, a shady figure descending. My poem was a response to that image; someone going from one world to another. Pictures and poems have a lot in common, really. They are both glimpses into other worlds at a particular moment, from a particular angle.
3rd Place: Angi Holden - The Market
"I appreciated the opportunity to read my poem and listen to other writers' work. I'm a Creative Writing student at MMU; we regularly share our work, and I also read at a regular Chester open-mic poetry evening. Having work recognised by the Creative Writing Competition run by Huddersfield Litfest adds credibilty to my writing process. The presentation evening also gave me the opportunity to meet small press publishers, a vital part of a writer's networking."
To read the piece, click HERE
See the photographs that inspired the writing, and find out more about the Beast Market Photography and Writing Exhibition on at The Media Centre.
Runners up: Gareth Durasow, Julie Rose Clarke, AJ Kirby
Gareth Durasow -"I was surprised when my poem was shortlisted. Poetry is a more recently discovered passion and for that reason I’m greatly encouraged by this success. The Huddersfield Literary Festival has provided me with a rewarding opportunity to test the merit of my writing, develop it through feedback and broaden my readership."
To read the piece, click HERE
AJ Kirby -"The story was inspired by Amanda Crowther's photgraph of the bearded old man in the cafe, I was really happy to be invited to the Small Presses, Big Voices event on Saturday night, (where winning entries were announced), and even though I didn't win, it was fantastic to be involved!"
To read the piece, click HERE
The Family Group
This group is for families in any sense of the word: blood, adopted, step, kinship, single parent, two parent, LGBT, etc. If you are a god, or guide parent, you may wish to bring your god/guide child/ren. The basic rule with this group is that any adult must be accompanied by a child!
For more information, please go to Creative Groups
Saturday Writing Group (Anyone aged 18+)
The group sessions are a place where you can try out new writing exercises and work with new themes. This is a friendly, informal and supportive space where you can give feedback on others' work and bring in existing work to share with others.
For more information, please go to Creative Groups
To book a place/s for either of these workshops,
please email Rommi Smith at: r.smith2@hud.ac.uk
or call (01484) 471 895
This year's authors included:
Joanne Harris, (festival patron), who be discussed her life and work, including her new book The Lollipop Shoes; zany poet Nick Toczek who showed audiences how to twist a rhyme and turn rhythm into poems, with a few magic tricks up his sleeve; plus sharp, silver-tongued performance poetry and lyrics from Generation TxT.
Made in Bradford, is a collection of frank interviews with British Pakistani men in Bradford; discussing everything from faith, forced marriages and freedom. Especially for the festival, the book was brought to life through live performance and debate with the book's editor, Yunis Alam.
If you missed the Made in Bradford discussion as part of the Huddersfield Literature Festival or want to listen again, you can now listen to it by clicking on the link . (You can also download as a podcast).Yunis Alam, is in conversation with Michael Stewart. Extracts of the book are read by Balbir Singh.
This year's speakers included:
Doreen Lawrence, recounted the impact of the murder of her son, Stephen, in her stunning and inspiring memoir, And Still I Rise. Caine-Prize nominated Nigerian Writer, Sefi Atta discussed her brand new work and nomination for the 'African Booker Prize'. Louise Page, Royal Literary Fellow, whose play Salonika is at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, led a creative writing masterclass to inspire and illuminate.
The world premiere of Beast Market, a powerful new piece of verbatim theatre took place. Chol Theatre gathered the diverse voices of Huddersfield to take a fresh, funny and forthright look at what's happening under the surface of this Pennine town. The River, a brand new commission from writer David Lawton, performer Eilon Morris, and musician Camilo Tirado, who fuse music, performance and text in an intimate exploration of freedom was also performed during the festival.
Poet Jim Greenhalf is praised by writers such as Tony Harrison, Alan Sillitoe, Anne Fine, Jim Burns and Vernon Scannell. Described as "an act of defiance", audiences experienced Greenhalf's writing. Sarah Corbett was shortlisted for the Forward and TS Eliot Prizes. Sarah presented brand new poems from her forthcoming collection, Other Beasts, as well as reading from Huddersfield University's recent anthology, The Intelligent Woman's Guide.
The Small is Beautiful Writers' Day and Book Fair featured Ian Clayton, James Nash and Gaia Holmes, who shared their writing secrets and discussed how to get published. Small Presses, Big Voices celebrated what's hot off the press: the new voices and new work emerging from some of the country's best small presses.
For further information about Huddersfield Literature Festival, please contact:
Rommi Smith, Creative Writing Projects Officer and Festival Co-ordinator
TEL: (01484) 471 895
EMAIL: brochure@litfest.org.uk or litfest@hud.ac.uk
If you've enjoyed Huddersfield Literature Festival, then don't forget to go along to Ilkley Literature Festival: Download PDF
The first Holmfirth Arts Festival takes place in June, the full programme will be available in May. See www.holmfirthartandmusic.org.uk for more details.
Festival Volunteers
Each year's festival is transformed by the generous support of the festival volunteers. If you'd like to help out with this years festival and enable it to grow, please contact Debbie Hoyle 01484 473703 or email litfest@hud.ac.uk
