Ilkley Literature Festival
The north of England's longest-running literature festival.
Coming in 2025: 3-19 October 2025.
#ILF25 | Produced by @thewordupnorth.bsky.social
- Story Explorer Day is back and coming to Skipton this Spring!
- It was a pleasure to host the annual New Northern Poets showcase last month as part of ILF25. Keep an eye on these amazing poets - and keep an ear out for their upcoming podcast series!
- Join us on Sat 31 January as political columnist and man-who saw-it-all Steve Richards casts new light on Blair’s time in office, showing that many of the challenges facing him were the ones that still face Labour today and discussing the lessons today’s government can learn from the Blair years.
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- Puppy love with Mark Radcliffe and Arlo at the King's Hall on Sunday 😍 🐶
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- It's the final weekend (du-du-duuu-du)! But we're certainly not winding down early. Check out what we have on this weekend! There's still time to get your tickets at ilkleylitfest.org.uk or by calling 01943 816714. You can also purchase tickets at our venues.
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- Diaries out - here's what we have in store for you at ILF this week and weekend! 🗓️ 📚 Tickets available at ilkleylitfest.org.uk or call the box office on 01943 816714 🎟️
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- What an opening weekend! ILF25 is well and truly underway. And there's plenty more to come from now until Sunday 19 October. What were your highlights from our opening weekend? (don't mention the weather ☔ - that part was out of our hands...) 📸 Rich Bunce, Walking Photographer
- Aaaand we're off! What a fantastic turn out to our opening night event with Nick Clegg at the King's Hall. Thank you to everyone who braved the weather last night and good luck to everyone braving it today to see us! Lots more brilliant events coming up this weekend and until Sunday 19 October. 🧡 📚
- We're delighted to have BSL interpreters at several of this year's events. You can browse all our BSL interpreted events here: buff.ly/BcLgRm0 #ILF25 #britishsignlanguage #bsl #bookfestival
- MPs called for it to be banned. The Daily Mail labelled it a ‘torrent of filth’. What was it about the late, great Tony Harrison’s poem ‘V.’ that stirred up so much controversy? Join us on Sunday 12 October as we explore Harrison's seminal work and its legacy. #nationalpoetryday #TonyHarrison
- It wouldn't be ILF without poetry! We've dedicated a whole day to celebrating the power of poetry at this year's festival. Join us on Sat 18 October for showcases, guided reading groups, workshops and an evening of networking! #nationalpoetryday #poetry #ILF25
- ILF 2025 starts THIS FRIDAY! Take a look at what we have in store for you this weekend 👀 📚 Tickets available at ilkleylitfest.org.uk or call the box office on 01943 816714 🎟️
- One week to go until ILF25 begins! We can't wait to welcome you all back for another October of word power, big names and even bigger ideas. Who's got their tickets? 🎟️ 😍 #ILF25 #bookfestival #litfest
- It's publication day for Simon Armitage! Simon's latest collection New Cemetery is a luminous and wry collection reflecting a changing world of unstable weather patterns and unpredictable news events, all observed across a few acres of Pennine upland.
- Hungry? We’ve got quite the menu of events exploring food and our relationship with it at ILF this October: 🍽️ Ruby Tandoh traces how being ‘into food’ went from a subculture to a national obsession with her a laser-sharp, wry analysis of today’s food culture on Sun 19 Oct: buff.ly/4skuFOX
- We are thrilled to have Claire Adam appearing in conversation with Emma Nanami Strenner at this year's Ilkley Lit Fest. Claire's latest novel, Love Forms, was recently longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed when the shortlist is announced next Tuesday!
- HUGE congratulations to @nussaibah.bsky.social, whose novel Fundamentally has been shortlisted for the Comedy Women In Print Prize. You can catch Nussaibah in Ilkley this October discussing her seriously funny book with fellow author Sanam Mahloudji. Tickets available here: tinyurl.com/4uptc6ce 🎟️
- A wonderful interview with Bradford-born author Jess Kitching in the T&A today! Jess is returning to her roots this October, appearing at ILF alongside Hanna Thomas Uose to discuss her new novel The Life Experiment: buff.ly/WWHsOCM buff.ly/KsIttiD
- Our in-person event with Vince Cable has sold out! 🎉 But tickets are still available for the live stream (which you can also watch for up to 72 hours after!): tinyurl.com/yzkvt7z8
- What was the first book you remember loving as a child? Have your reading habits changed since childhood? Are there any books you return to, time and time again? 📚
- We're looking forward to this event - definitely one for anyone interested in history, politics and journalism! Simon Hall, Professor of Modern History at the University of Leeds, will tell the stories of the three communist revolutions in Russia, China and Cuba that changed world history forever.
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- In a world where offline isn’t an option, how can you protect yourself – and your family – from online harm? Check out this interview with Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, who's appearing at Ilkley Lit Fest on Sat 4 October. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
- Are you a member of a book club? Do you want to attend a selection of ILF fiction events together? Then sign up to our new book club membership scheme! 📚 #ILF25 #BookClub #BookGroup #AmReading
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- It wouldn't be ILF without politics. Discover the inside story of Labour under Starmer, explore the legacy of Tony Blair and get the inside scoop on the life of a Chief Whip. And we're going global with events on geopolitics, from Xi Jinping's rise to power to what happens if globalisation fails.
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