Leeds’ vibrant and thriving literature scene will be celebrated at the 4th Leeds Lit Fest between 26 February and 6 March.
Local writers, performers and artists have the opportunity to showcase their talents alongside those from the rest of the UK and beyond.
Over 50 events, aimed to appeal not just to lovers of books and the written word but to also appeal to audiences who would never normally consider going to a literature festival – but will be rewarded with comedy, cabaret, a literature quiz, film screening, art exhibition, theatre performance, a literature walk and creative writing workshops. For traditionalists, there will be literary talks, book readings and poetry events.
Children and family will be the focus at the launch on Saturday 26th February at Leeds Central Library, with author talks, poetry and performance, including events with award-winning children’s authors Chitra Soundar, Andy Mulligan and Steve Cole.
From 27th, venues throughout the City will host events, with this year’s festival theme of ‘Boundaries’ inspiring many of the programmed writer events across subjects as diverse as travel, politics, the law, personal memoir and the environment.
There’ll be a Bronte themed Cabaret evening on Sat 5th March, and a performance by Commoners Choir and a Salon du Chocolat both on Sun 6th March, all at Carriageworks Theatre. Back at the Library, a Charles Dickens double bill will be performed by his great great grandson Gerald Dickens on Wed 2nd March.
Many of the live audiences events will also be streamed online enabling attendance worldwide attendance. The festival has also committed to making sure that some of the festival events are as accessible as possible to Leeds residents with a Pay What You Feel admission price policy.
Lit Fest partners include Leeds Big Bookend, Hyde Park Book Club, MILIM, Leeds Libraries, Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds Church Institute, The Leeds Library, Headingley Lit Fest and Strix. Festival events take place in some of Leeds’ most iconic buildings, such as Trinity Church in Leeds City Centre which will host the Seeing Asylum exhibition from Fri 4th to Sun 6th March.
Author highlights for the festival will include talks by AC Grayling (Sun 27th Feb), Jonathan Drori (Mon 28th Feb), Peter Hain (Thurs 3rd March) and Johann Hari (Sat 5th March). Poetry performances for the festival will include a panel and performance event organized by the British Library (Sat 5th March) curated by Khadijah Ibrahiim and an event organized with the Poetry Translation Centre (Fri 4th March) with Diana Anphimiadi. Creative writing workshops during the festival (Sat 5th and Sun 6th March) will cover a broad range of topics from writing ghost stories to storytelling.
Carl Hutton, Chair of Leeds Lit Fest: “We are really pleased that for the 4th year running we have been able to bring together a festival which will appeal to many people from across the City. Despite the uncertainty of the last 12 months we have a programme that champions new writers, authors and poets alongside nationally renowned figures such as Peter Hain and AC Grayling. We hope as many people as possible will feel able to support the festival whether it’s by visiting an exhibition, going to a workshop, watching a film or meeting an author at one of the many talks. We have also committed to producing a live streamed podcast presenting some of the characters of the Festival each weekday, as a way of introducing new people to the Lit Fest.”
Fiona Gell, Leeds Big Bookend and Northern Short Story Festival: “The festival has always made sure there is a strong connection with local writers and poets and this year is no different, with many talks, workshops and performances being led by local writers and performers, most notably with a performance by the Leeds based Commoners Choir (led by Boff Whalley) and Harmony Choir (a choir of refugees led by Frances Bernstein) to present their song Looking Out, Reaching Out which is a call for people of West Yorkshire to make connections with places right around the world.’
Full details of the Leeds Lit Fest programme can be found at https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk
Feature photograph: Leeds’ Commoners Choir 2016.
