ILF Digital Festival_Autumn 2020_FINAL

INCLUDING
19 FREE
EVENTS
AUTUMN 2020
Digital Author Events
Writing Workshops
Literary Prizes
Telephone Theat re
Poetry • Fiction • Non-Fiction
ilkleylitfest.org.uk

AUTUMN 2020 PROGRAMME
@ilkleylitfest
PUBLIC FUNDERS
HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNER
MAJOR PARTNERS
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
ILKLEY BOOK CLUB
PATRONS
Platinum Patron
Sir Rodney Brooke
Gold Patrons
Jo Powell
Laura Shaw
Salts Estates Ltd
Patrons
Trevor & Jennifer Bryan
Ian & Hilary Crawford
Dr Simon Currie
Margaret Hellewell
Kate Roberts
FRIENDS
Special thanks to the Friends of Ilkley Literature Festival, without whom we would not be able to develop and
produce so much of the work we do. In 2020 your ongoing support has been more important than ever, and we
are so grateful for your generosity.
Membership starts from just £25 per year. If you are interested in becoming a Friend of the Ilkley Literature
Festival, you can find out more information by visiting: ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/support-us
The Ilkley Literature Festival Ltd. Registered In England and Wales Company No: 1061343 Ilkley Literature Festival is a registered charity Charity No: 501801
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ilkleylitfest.org.uk
AUTUMN 2020 PROGRAMME
WELCOME
Our Autumn programme doesn’t look quite
the way we imagined it would in the early
days of 2020.
This year, due to the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic on our ability to gather safely to
enjoy live events, the scale of our programme
is reduced, but we are determined to return
with our usual expansive and wide-ranging
festival programme as soon as we are able, and
build back as we head towards our milestone
50th anniversary in 2023.
In the meantime, we are delighted to present
our very first digital weekend. We’ve taken the
opportunity of this new approach to focus
on one of the thematic strands we originally
intended to weave through a full-sized festival
programme – an exploration of concepts of
justice and injustice. As the events of 2020
have unfolded, we have increasingly felt
the importance and timely nature of these
conversations.
Looking forward, we are already planning a
Spring 2021 programme exploring connections
between writing and the natural world – and
for more online content, do have a look at the
varied and inspiring digital events produced by
our northern literature festival friends at Off
The Shelf, Durham Book Festival, Manchester
Literature Festival and by our neighbours,
Bradford Literature Festival.
2020 is an unusual chapter in ILF’s history.
It feels very strange to not be spending our
October welcoming authors and audiences
to Ilkley, but we look forward to having the
pleasure of being together in-person again
before too much longer.
Until then, take care
The ILF team
2020 SI Leeds Literary Prize:
Winner Announcement
Fri 16 October, 11am, YouTube Premiere
The winner of the 2020 award for unpublished
fiction by UK-based Black and Asian women will
be announced in a digital event featuring all six
shortlisted writers and head judge Niki Chang.
Ilkley Literature Festival is proud to be a lead
partner in the biennial prize alongside Peepal
Tree Press and SI Leeds.
For more info, visit:
www.sileedsliteraryprize.com
2020 Walter Swan Poetry Prize:
Winner Announcement
Thu 22 October, 11am, YouTube Premiere
The winners of ILF’s annual poetry prize will
be announced in a digital event featuring this
year’s judges Professor John Whale and Dr
Rachel Bower. The first, second and thirdplaced
poets in the main prize and the 18-25
years subcategory will read their winning
entries responding to the theme of
‘A Kindness’.
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AUTUMN 2020 PROGRAMME
@ilkleylitfest
Telephone Theatre: You Don’t Know Me But…
A Stute Theatre and B Arts Production
Tue 13 to Sat 17 October, 6 performances per day
This intimate one-woman audio play is performed live over the phone, giving audience
members a unique and moving theatre experience in their own homes at a time when live
face-to-face theatre performance is not possible.
‘You Don’t Know Me But…’ is written and
performed by winning theatre maker Sophia
Hatfield and directed by Olivier Award Winning
Theatre and BBC Radio Director Gwenda Hughes.
Using live music, beautiful writing and immersive
sound effects, this is a unique approach to
socially distanced theatre.
To book a FREE performance call the Box Office,
tel: 01943 816714
Your Local Arena: ‘Caribbean Nights’
Tue 6 to Sat 10 October 2020
FREE online at ilkleylitfest.org.uk
Your Local Arena is a project revisiting the BBC Arena
documentary archive. ILF are partnering with the project to
make available via our website two archive films exploring the
cultural impact of Carnival in the UK – Calypso, Carnival and
Steel Pan and Three Kings of Calypso.
Accompanying these films is a newly commissioned panel
discussion with academic Emily Zobel Marshall, literature
producer Melanie Abrahams, sociologist Max Farrar and
author Anthony Joseph responding to these Arena archives
and talking about the resonances they have in an era of Black
Khadijah Ibrahiim
Lives Matter. You will also be able to view new works inspired
by the films from local poets Khadijah Ibrahiim and Michelle Scally-Clarke,
as well as a free online life writing masterclass from author Colin Grant.
Celebrate the spirit of Carnival online for FREE at:
www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/festival/your-local-arena
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ilkleylitfest.org.uk
AUTUMN 2020 PROGRAMME
IN JUSTICE
DIGITAL EVENTS WEEKEND FRI 23 – SUN 25 OCTOBER
Welcome to our weekend programme of digital
events exploring themes of justice and injustice in
literature and society. We’ll be uncovering fights for
equal rights in some unexpected places – from the
history of tennis to the story of the humble potato,
and from who does the housework to how street
names map out our values as well as our geography.
The programme encompasses contributions from
writers of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, and we’re
delighted that moving online has enabled us to
include writers based internationally as well as from
all parts of the UK.
Ilkley Literature Festival has a long history of working
with writers and artists from all backgrounds to
explore our shared history (even when painful) and
to celebrate the immense breadth, depth and variety
of our experiences and cultures.
We’re proud to present this series of fascinating,
sometimes challenging and ultimately hopeful
conversations, giving voice to the work of writers
who are contributing – in their very different ways
– to bending the long moral arc of the universe
towards justice.
Injustice
anywhere
is a threat
to justice
everywhere”
Martin Luther King, Jr
Letter from a
Birmingham Jail,
16 April 1963
Book your free place at www.ilkleylitfest.org.uk
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FRI 23 – SAT 24 OCTOBER
#ilf20
FRIDAY 23 OCT, 7PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SAT 24 OCT, 10AM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SAT 24 OCT, 11.30AM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves:
The Darkest Evening
FREE ONLINE
Ann Cleeves is the author of
over thirty critically acclaimed
novels. Amongst her creations is
the redoubtable north-eastern
detective Vera Stanhope, whose
instant rapport with readers led to
the hit television adaptation, Vera,
starring Brenda Blethyn. Cleeves
will be discussing her latest novel,
The Darkest Evening, the ninth to
feature the brilliant, determinedly
unglamorous investigator.
Before turning to writing, Cleeves
worked as a probation officer,
gave her first-hand experience of
the realities of the criminal justice
system and an understanding of the
psychology of perpetrators of crime
that flavours her work.
Interview by crime writer Brian
McGilloway.
Presented in partnership with Noireland
Pragya Agarwal:
Unravelling
Unconscious Bias
FREE ONLINE
Have you ever been told to
smile more, been teased about
your accent, or had your name
pronounced incorrectly? If so,
you’ve probably already faced bias in
your everyday life.
Behavioural scientist, activist
and writer Dr Pragya Agarwal
unravels the way our implicit or
‘unintentional’ biases affect the
way we communicate and perceive
the world, and how they affect our
decision-making. Find out what
strategies we should use to address
our own biases, how to better
educate our children and how we
can build a more just society.
Interview by journalist and creative
facilitator Kirran Shah.
Andrew Harding: These
Are Not Gentle People
FREE ONLINE
On a warm evening in 2016, a group
of forty men gathered on a farm
outside the town of Parys in South
Africa. The events of the next two
hours would come to haunt them
all. Andrew Harding’s These Are Not
Gentle People is the story of that
night and of what happened next.
Harding, an award-winning foreign
correspondent, traces the impact of
one moment of collective barbarism
on a fragile community – exploding
lies, cover-ups, political meddling
and betrayals, and revealing the
inner lives of those involved with
extraordinary clarity.
Interview by BBC foreign news
correspondent and best-selling
author Jill McGivering.
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ilkleylitfest.org.uk
SAT 24 OCTOBER
SAT 24 OCT, 1 PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SAT 24 OCT, 2.30 PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SAT 24 OCT, 4 PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
Deirdre Mask:
The Address Book
FREE ONLINE
In The Address Book, Deirdre
Mask illuminates the often hidden
stories behind street addresses and
their power to decide who counts,
who doesn’t – and why. From the
chronological numbers of Tokyo to
the naming of Bobby Sands Street in
Iran, Mask explores how postcodes,
avenues and alleyways have always
been connected to class, race,
wealth and power.
Interview by lecturer in post-colonial
literature Dr Emily Zobel Marshall.
Nikita Lalwani &
Shahnaz Ahsan: Food,
Families and Fiction
FREE ONLINE
This panel discussion brings
together Nikita Lalwani, author of
You People, a novel about the lives
of illegal immigrants working in a
London restaurant, and Keighleyborn
author Shahnaz Ahsan, whose
novel Hashim & Family draws on
the real-life experiences of her
Bangladesh grandparents’ arrival in
1960s Manchester. Together, they
discuss the importance of voicing
the immigrant experience through
fiction and the role food plays in
binding families and communities.
Interview by broadcaster and
playwriter Nick Ahad.
Chris Daw
Chris Daw:
Justice on Trial
FREE ONLINE
Does punishment work at all,
anywhere in the world? Are some
people evil and beyond redemption?
Or are all of us just one step away
from potentially becoming a
criminal?
Chris Daw QC has been practising
criminal law for over 25 years,
navigating Britain’s fractured justice
system from within. Drawing on his
own fascinating case histories and
global reporting – including the 2019
London Bridge attacks, Alabama’s
prison system and one of Britain’s
most dramatic mass shootings –
Daw challenges the status quo and
some of the myths around crime
and punishment and presents a
radical new set of solutions for
crime and punishment.
Interview by journalist, filmmaker
and Chair of Leeds 2023 Ruth Pitt.
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SAT 24 – SUN 25 OCTOBER
@ilkleylitfest
SAT 24 OCT, 5.30 PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SAT 24 OCT, 7 PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SUN 25 OCT, 10AM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
In Search of Frankenstein, Chloe Dewe Mathews
#foundfiction
Sally Howard:
The Home Stretch
FREE ONLINE
Forty years of feminism and still
women do the majority of the
housework. Why?
Journalist and author Sally Howard
shares the stories of her personal
investigations into the world of
domestic work and the people who
do – and don’t – undertake it. Her
book The Home Stretch combines
history and fieldwork to discover
how we got here and what the
future could look like for feminism’s
final frontier: the domestic labour
gap.
Interview by author and journalist
Yvette Huddleston.
Lee Lawrence:
The Louder I Will Sing
FREE ONLINE
On 28th September 1985, Lee
Lawrence’s mother was wrongly
shot by police during a raid on her
Brixton home. The bullet shattered
her spine and she never walked
again.
The Louder I Will Sing is Lee’s
powerful, compelling and uplifting
memoir, a story both of people
and politics, of the underlying
racism beneath many of our most
important institutions, but also the
positive power that hope, faith and
love can bring in response.
Interview by broadcaster and
playwriter Nick Ahad.
Samir Puri
Samir Puri: The Great
Imperial Hangover
FREE ONLINE
For the first time in millennia we
live without formal empires. But
that doesn’t mean we don’t feel
their presence rumbling through
history. From Russia’s incursions in
the Ukraine to Brexit; from Trump’s
‘America-first’ policy to China’s
forays into Africa; from Modi’s
India to the hotbed of the Middle
East, Samir Puri provides a bold
new framework for understanding
the world’s complex rivalries and
politics.
Interview by author and former
Head of BBC Yorkshire Colin
Philpott.
Sponsored by The Grammar School at Leeds
.
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ilkleylitfest.org.uk
SUN 25 OCTOBER
SUN 25 OCT, 11.30AM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SUN 25 OCT, 1PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SUN 25 OCT, 2.30PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
#foundfiction Competition
David Berry: A People’s
History of Tennis
FREE ONLINE
Pristine lawns, tennis whites,
strawberries and cream; tennis
is synonymous with the upper
echelons of society, but scratch
beneath the surface and you’ll
quickly discover a different history.
From the birth of modern tennis
in Victorian Britain to the present
day, the game has been a focus of
struggles around sexuality, gender,
race and class that have transformed
the nature of tennis and sport itself.
David Berry reveals the hidden
history of the game, providing a rich
account of the challenges faced and
the victories won.
Interview by writer and poet
James Nash.
Sponsored by Stowe Family Law
Tom Hazeldine:
The Northern Question
FREE ONLINE
Tom Hazeldine excavates the
history of a divided country and
the UK’s regional inequalities. He
explores the formation of an English
state rooted in London and the
south-east, the Industrial Revolution
and the rise of provincial trade
unions and the Labour party, and
the continuing repercussions of
financial crises and austerity. What is
the solution for a divided country?
Interview by journalist, filmmaker
and Chair of Leeds 2023 Ruth Pitt.
S. A. Cosby:
Blacktop Wasteland
FREE ONLINE
US author S.A. Cosby’s stunning
crime novel Blacktop Wasteland
holds up a cracked mirror to the
woozy ideals of the American dream
– a dazzling, operatic story of a man
pushed to his limits by poverty,
race and a scarred, self-destructive
masculinity.
Cosby’s brand of Southern
Noir combines the pace of a
high-octane thriller with fully
fleshed-out characters and a
deep understanding of place.
With reviews of the book drawing
comparisons to Elmore Leonard and
Walter Mosley, Cosby is a talent to
watch.
Interview by bestselling crime fiction
author Mark Billingham.
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SUN 25 OCTOBER
#ilf20
SUN 25 OCT, 4PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
SUN 25 OCT, 5.30PM SUN 25 OCT, 7PM
THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV THEN AVAILABLE ON DEMAND UNTIL 30 NOV
Kimberly Campanello
University of Leeds
Poetry Centre Showcase
FREE ONLINE
This showcase brings together
readings from a number of
exceptional poets associated with
the thriving University of Leeds
Poetry Centre, including works
touching on the themes of the
weekend.
Participating poets include:
John Whale, Zaffar Kunial,
Kimberly Campanello, Charlotte
Eichler, Lydia Kennaway, Malika
Booker, Caitlin Stobie and
Jason Allen-Paisant.
Rebecca Earle
Rebecca Earle: The
Politics of the Potato
FREE ONLINE
Britain’s foremost food historian
traces the global journey of the
humble potato ‘from the Andes to
everywhere’. Rebecca Earle tells the
untold story of how food security
and eating became part of modern
politics; and places the modest
spud at the heart of profound
transformations that have created
the world we live in today.
Interview by poet and author
James Nash.
Hashi Mohamed:
People Like Us
FREE ONLINE
What does it take to make it in
modern Britain? Ask a politician, and
they’ll tell you it’s hard work. Ask a
millionaire, and they’ll tell you it’s
talent. Ask a CEO and they’ll tell you
it’s dedication. But what if none of
those things is enough?
Raised on benefits and having
attended some of the lowestperforming
schools in the country,
barrister Hashi Mohamed knows
something about social mobility.
In his book People Like Us, he
shares what he has learned: from
the stark statistics that reveal the
depth of the problem to the failures
of imagination, education and
confidence that compound it.
Interview by author and journalist
Yvette Huddleston.
Presented in partnership with the University
of Leeds
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ilkleylitfest.org.uk
Preparing Poems for
Publication with
John Whale
Sat 17 October, 11am –
12.30pm, Zoom Workshop
£15 per person
Director of the University of Leeds
Poetry Centre and co-editor of
Stand magazine John Whale
helps you prepare your poems
for submissions to magazines.
Drawing on his 18 years of editorial
experience, John will help guide
you along the route to successful
publication.
Editing Crime Fiction
Sat 24 October,
11am – 12.30pm,
Zoom Workshop
£15 per person
Katherine Armstrong, Editorial
Director for Fiction at Bonnier
Books UK, will take you through
the fascinating process of editing.
You will learn about subgenres,
crafting character journeys and
the importance of structure
and pace. There will be practical
writing exercises, insights into a
book’s journey from manuscript to
publication, and the opportunity to
ask your burning questions about
the inner workings of the publishing
industry.
AUTUMN 2020 PROGRAMME
DIGITAL WRITING WORKSHOPS
Wellness Writing Course
Weekly from Tue 27 Oct for
6 sessions, 2pm or 7pm
session times available,
Zoom Workshop
£90/60 concessions per
person for the full course
Whether you are a seasoned poet
or have never written anything more
creative than a shopping list this
six-week course of Wellness Writing
from writer, poet and workshop
leader Andy Craven Griffiths is
designed for all levels of experience.
In these creative writing sessions,
each lasting 75 minutes, you will
use wellness practices, examine
the science of kindness (yes,
there is such a thing), and try out
a range of creative writing skills.
Each workshop will gradually build
towards a complete piece of writing.
BOOKING
Box Office tel: 01943 816714
Book Online: www.ilkleylitfest.org.uk
Please note: The above digital workshops will take place via Zoom.
Ticket holders will receive further information about how to access the
workshops after purchasing their tickets.
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Spring is coming...
SPRING 2021
Nature Writing Workshops
Author Events
Literary Walks
Poetry • Fiction • Non-Fiction
Outdoor Activities
Writing for Wellbeing
JOIN US FOR OUR SPRING SERIES
EXPLORING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN
WRITING AND THE NATURAL WORLD
ilkleylitfest.org.uk