Tickets are flying out for Leeds Lit Fest 2020 which will see more than 100 events taking place at over 35 venues throughout the city, 4-8 March.

Headline events include talks from Amanda Owen, The Yorkshire Shepherdess (6th March), Jenny Éclair (7th March), Helen Fielding (8th March) all at Carriageworks Theatre.  AC Grayling (7th March), journalist Gavin Esler (7th March) and Sports Book of the Year multiple winner, Douglas Hamilton (8th March) at The Leeds Library. Dave Haslam will be talking at Hyde Park Book Club on 8th March.

Leeds Lit Fest is set to be like no other literature festival in the UK. The Festival will not just bring writers to the city but will also be focused on inspiring and encouraging people from Leeds to get into writing through the programming of a series of writing workshops led by Yorkshire based writers and authors along with the commissioning of a podcast series aimed at writer development. There will also be a programme of events in a variety of venues including libraries, pubs, theatres and clubs in several Leeds districts including Guiseley, Farsley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Moor Allerton and Roundhay. This Inspiring the City programme is supported by Leeds Inspired.

Alongside this, there is also an ambitious literary inspired events programme taking place throughout the city with something for all ages and interests. The Festival programme includes a number of literary inspired theatre performances, literature and poetry walks, immersive experiences, music, spoken word nights and storytelling events not just in the city centre but city wide.  These will include a specially commissioned Leeds Lit Adventure Walk (5th to 8th March) that will take participants in, around and through many of the city’s iconic buildings meeting characters and hearing writing inspired from the city of Leeds.  German based Live Artist Ant Hampton will bring his unique Quiet Volume immersive experience to 3 of the city’s finest libraries including the Leeds Library, Leeds Central Library and the Brotherton Library. Mill Hill Chapel will host Long Division, a literature inspired sound installation by IOU Theatre.

Fiona Gell, from Leeds Big Bookend which is one of the 10 Festival partners feels that the programme builds upon the success of the first Leeds Lit Fest which took place in 2019.  ‘We are incredibly excited with the programme we have put together which we has a strong local feel but also builds upon many of the quirky and unconventional events that we delivered in our first year.  One example of this is working with local poet, Joe Williams who will be bringing his ‘Otley Run’ verse novella to life with an immersive performance that walks part of the Otley Run, the famous pub crawl synonymous with Leeds during 3 days of the Festival.   No other festival could or would attempt such an event but we feel that it will give audiences a unique Leeds experience.’

The Festival has been supported by funding from the Arts Council, Leeds Inspired and the British Council and is expected to see up to 10,000 people engage with the Lit Fest during its 5 days.