Save the dates! We are excited to announce that the first ever Leeds Lit Fest will take place from Wednesday 6 –Sunday 10 March 2019, at venues across the city.
The Festival programme will celebrate the vibrant and thriving literature scene that exists in Leeds with local writers, performers and artists showcasing their talents alongside those from across the UK and internationally. There will be author talks, workshops, performance, poetry and spoken word events including a Storytelling Takeover at Carriageworks Theatre.
The Festival will use some of the most creative spaces in the city for its programme with a lineup that will see more than 30 events taking place over the 5 days of the Festival incorporating the rich mix of influences from the different partners all of whom have extensive experience of bringing literature events to the city.
Partner organisations include The Leeds Library, Leeds Libraries, Carriageworks Theatre, Chapel FM, The Leeds Big Bookend and Northern Short Story Festival, Headingley LitFest, Hyde Park Book Club, MILIM, Leeds Minster, Leeds Church Institute and #foundfiction.
Carl Hutton, Chair of the Leeds Lit Fest Working Group and CEO of The Leeds Library said, “For many years, the partners involved have been putting on their own literature events and festivals very successfully but the city itself has never had its own literature festival. This is long overdue. We feel that the time is right for a Leeds Lit Fest that is citywide and that celebrates its literature past, present and future. In wanting the Festival to have the city at the heart of it we have looked to include some of the venues, organisations and people which have championed writing in the city for many years. We are keen that Leeds Lit Fest has its own distinctive character, that it is quirky, challenges and presents a fresh approach to how a literature festival can be.”
Fiona Gell from the Leeds Big Bookend and Northern Short Story Festival said, “We are delighted to be one of the partners involved in the first ever Leeds Lit Fest.For many years we have worked with and championed the writers, poets and performers of Leeds such as Caryl Phillips, Chris Nickson, Frances Brody, Clare Fisher, Becky Cherriman, Ian Harker, Ian Duhig, Tony Harrison and Alan Bennett.There is so much writing talent in the city and it is crying out for a platform such as this. We hope that the Leeds Lit Fest will be the start of something great for the city and that it will continue for many years to come.”
Follow us on Twitter @LeedsLit or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/210559913215087/. More information coming soon.
Photograph by Izzy Brittle taken at the Northern Short Story Festival 2018. L-R: C.G. Menon, Clare Fisher and Kit Caless.