Food & Drink | Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Prue Leith: Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom

20 Oct 2024

14:30 - 15:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Love to cook but short on time? Chef and TV legend *Prue Leith* brings her years of culinary know how to Ilkley and shares her secrets for making delicious food without all the fuss. She’ll divulge the neat tricks, hacks and shortcuts that can save you time, the recipes where a cheat version tastes just as good as home-made, how to rescue a recipe gone awry and how to avoid waste and save money. Step away from the stuffed mushrooms, head over to the King’s Hall and let Leith teach you a thing or two!

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

You might also like

Ilkley Literature Festival | Spoken Word | Talk

Carol Ann Duffy & John Sampson: Earth Prayers

20 Oct 2024

18:00 - 19:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Poetry and music unite on this special evening with former Poet Laureate *Carol Ann Duffy* and her long-time collaborator, multi instrumentalist *John Sampson*. Duffy performs her best-loved poems alongside selected modern and classic poems on the wonder of nature from her new anthology *Earth Prayers*. Sampson, who plays everything from the trumpet to the lesser-known crumhorn, intersperses the readings with musical interludes. This unique event promises to be one not to miss, and one you won’t forget.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £11/7

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Fitness & Wellbeing | Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Kate Pankhurst: Fantastically Great Women Sports Stars

19 Oct 2024

16:00 - 17:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Unlock your inner sports star and learn about incredible women in this fact-packed event! With her dressing-up box in tow, *Kate Pankhurst* will inspire a new generation of athletes. Expect exciting quizzes, dressing up and maybe some drawing too in this family friendly event.Join us before Kate Pankhurst’s event for fun sports start activities from 3pm!Children must be accompanied by a supervising adult at all times. All events are intended for family groups to attend together. Please book tickets for ALL the adults and children in your party. Age guidance is provided for each event. Events are not suitable for children younger than the age stated. Ages 6+ and their families.Presented in partnership with Clip ‘N Climb.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £27/24 ticket with book, OR £17.50/14.50 ticket only (limited availability)

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Theresa May: The Abuse of Power

12 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Democracy depends on people having trust in their public institutions and politicians. But that trust has been eroded. Former Prime Minister and Home Secretary *Theresa May* joins us for an impassioned conversation on her searing exposé *The Abuse of Power*, discussing the issues and injustices she confronted at the highest level. From Hillsborough to the Grenfell tragedy, the Daniel Morgan case and parliamentary scandals, the powerful repeatedly choose to use their power not in the interests of the powerless but to protect themselves. May argues for a radical rethink in how we approach politics and public life and why we need to act now to rebuild that trust. This event will be chaired by *Ruth Pitt*. Pitt is a journalist, TV producer, creative consultant and director of the Creative Cities Convention as well as chair of the National Poetry Centre.*Book + ticket price includes paperback copy of ‘The Abuse of Power’ (RRP £12.99).*

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50 / £14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Quizzes & Games

The Big Book Quiz I: An Evening of Pies, Peas & Qs

9 Oct 2024

19:00 - 21:45

Outside the Box

Do you know your *Pride and Prejudice* from your *Sense and Sensibility*? Your Margaret Drabble from your Margaret Atwood?* Quiz Master Mel *returns by popular demand with her annual book quiz! Test your knowledge of literary trivia while feeding body and mind with pie, peas and potatoes*. Put together a team of 4–6 people or come along by yourself and we’ll link you up with fellow book-brained festival goers. And, if you’ve got room for seconds, join us for another serving of the Big Book Quiz (with different questions) on Wednesday 16 October. *Meal included in ticket price. Meat and vegetarian pie options available.

Ticket Information

General/Concession FREE, booking required

Get tickets

Venue Details

Outside the Box

The Victorian Arcade, South Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 9DY

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Spoken Word

Word Out Showcase

15 Oct 2024

18:00 - 19:00

Outside the Box

Outside the Box and Word Up North have teamed up with Brave Words poet, *Chris Singleton* to write pieces inspired by this year’s Learning Disability Week theme: “Do You See Me?” Expect personal and political poetry from people with learning disabilities and/or autism at this poetry showcase, filled with energy, acceptance, individuality and pride.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £20

Get tickets

Venue Details

Outside the Box

The Victorian Arcade, South Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 9DY

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Quizzes & Games

The Big Book Quiz II: An Evening of Pies, Peas & Qs

16 Oct 2024

19:00 - 21:45

Outside the Box

Know when Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize? Can tell the words of one Swift (Jonathan, Graham or even Taylor) from another? Then get ready as *Quiz Master Mel* returns to test your literary trivia! While Mel feeds your brain with book facts, event partners Outside the Box will provide the bodily sustenance – a tasty pie and pea supper*. Get together a team of 4–6 people or come along by yourself and we’ll link you up with fellow word-wizards. Please note: this is the second serving of our Big Book Quiz. Questions will be different to those asked on Wednesday 9 October. *Meal included in ticket price. Meat and vegetarian pie options available.

Ticket Information

General/Concession

Get tickets

Venue Details

Outside the Box

The Victorian Arcade, South Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 9DY

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Fitness & Wellbeing | Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Allie Bailey: There is No Wall

19 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Ultrarunner *Allie Bailey* has completed over 200 marathons and ultramarathons all over the world. She has crossed the inhospitable Namib Desert, run the length of the Outer Hebrides and completed a 1,000-mile off-road version of the Land’s End to John o’Groats route in just thirty days. But the most remarkable thing about these achievements is that she accomplished most of them while battling depression and alcoholism. Hear Bailey’s inspiring story of how doing something you love can lead you to achieve things you never thought possible. Running won’t save you, but it might buy you the time to save yourself. Presented in partnership with Alpkit.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Eleni Kyriacou & Saima Mir: Crime, Punishment and Power

19 Oct 2024

14:30 - 15:30

Ilkley Playhouse

Two writers at the top of their game discuss the art of crime writing. Award-winning writers *Eleni Kyriacou *and *Saima Mir *explore how themes of trust, justice, family dynamics and the powerful vs the powerless run through their work. Kyriacou’s compelling historical crime novel *The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou* follows a Cypriot grandmother in London accused of murder and forced to rely on a translator to plead her case. *Vengeance,* Mir’s tension-filled follow-up to the bestselling *The Khan*, reunites readers with Jia Khan as she runs her late father’s organised crime syndicate in the north of England. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Miranda Sawyer: Uncommon People – A History of Britpop

19 Oct 2024

17:00 - 18:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Head backstage with music journalist *Miranda Sawyer* for vivid stories of nineties Britpop. Sawyer, who’s interviewed everyone from Liam Gallagher to Irvine Welsh, reminisces on the moment when British music suddenly meant everything, when Jarvis Cocker was a national hero,* Trainspotting * was an international hit and Cool Britannia ruled the airwaves. Relive the mad exhilaration of hearing the era’s most definitive anthems for the first time and discover the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Monique Roffey & Wenyan Lu: Faith and Courage

5 Oct 2024

15:45 - 16:45

Ilkley Playhouse

Costa Book of the Year Award winner *Monique Roffey* and MicKitterick Prize & SI Leeds Literary Prize winner *Wenyan Lu *discuss writing about gender equality, small communities and new beginnings in their powerful novels. Lu’s* The Funeral Cryer *tells the story of a professional mourner in contemporary rural China who is outcast by her village until a leap of faith shows her it’s never too late to alter your fate. Roffey’s *Passiontide* depicts four courageous women compelled to speak out after the shocking murder of another young woman on their Caribbean island and the revolutionary consequences of their bravery.This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Music | Talk

Richard Morton Jack: Nick Drake

19 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

Ilkley Playhouse

When Nick Drake died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26, he had made three well-reviewed but low-selling albums. Today, he is remembered as one of the most admired singer songwriters of his generation with his combined record sales now in the millions. *Richard Morton Jack *joins us to discuss Drake’s short, enigmatic life and lasting legacy. Morton Jack reveals new insights into Drake’s life and music, drawn from copious original research, new interviews with Drake’s family and exclusive access to deeply personal archive material.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Elizabeth Macneal & Sarah Brooks: Shrouded in Mystery

20 Oct 2024

13:15 - 14:15

Ilkley Playhouse

Novelists *Sarah Brooks *and *Elizabeth Macneal *share their approaches to writing gripping mystery novels with historical settings. Brooks’s *The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands *is a breathtaking historical fantasy set onboard the Great Trans-Siberian Express during the golden age of steam. As the secrets of the train’s curious cast of characters begin to unravel, something uncontrollable threatens to break in. Macneal’s *The Burial Plot *is a bewitching gothic thriller set in 1830s London. It follows tricksters Crawford and Bonnie, who survive on wicked schemes and ill-gotten coin. After their fortunes flip, murder, manipulation and secrets ensue. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Heritage | Ilkley Literature Festival | Music | Talk

Kate Kennedy: Cello

20 Oct 2024

15:45 - 16:45

Ilkley Playhouse

Join *Kate Kennedy*, Director of the Museum of Music History and a foremost critic of twentieth-century music, for an homage to that warmest of stringed instruments – the cello. Just as a cello’s voice is divided across four strings, Kennedy plucks from the stories of four remarkable cellists and their experiences of persecution, dramatic escape and misfortune. Discover the remarkable history of the cello and what it has meant to cellists, past and present.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Aamna Mohdin: Scattered

5 Oct 2024

17:45

Ilkley Playhouse

In 2015, *Aamna Mohdin* travelled to Calais to report from the frontlines of the refugee crisis. When she returned to London and discussed it with her parents, their response surprised her: didn’t she remember being a refugee herself? Now, award-winning Guardian correspondent Mohdin joins us for an eye-opening conversation on the reality of the refugee experience and its aftershocks. She revisits her family’s experience of escaping the Somali civil war, her early years spent in refugee camps before arriving in the UK, and discusses her work reporting the European refugee crisis.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £12/9

Get tickets

Venue Details

Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Caroline Lucas: Another England

6 Oct 2024

13:30 - 14:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Talk of Englishness is dominated by the right – by cheerleaders of English exceptionalism, aggressive nationalism and imperial nostalgia. Can we reclaim it? Join *Caroline Lucas*, former leader of the Green Party and the UK’s first Green MP, for a refreshing take on our national story. Delve into England’s history of radical inclusivity, deep-rooted commitment to nature and long struggle for equality. Discover an alternative Englishness: one that we can all embrace to build a greener, fairer future.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Adrian Chiles: The Curious Columns

6 Oct 2024

17:00 - 18:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

“I recently saw something in a petrol station toilet southbound on the M1 that I can never unsee…” With headlines like that, is it any wonder *Adrian Chiles’s* weekly Guardian columns have gained a cult following? The much-loved broadcaster returns to Ilkley to share his musings on the sacred and the profane, the whimsical and the bizarre, offering his idiosyncratic take on self checkouts, the correct duration of a hug, and discovering he has a naked doppelgänger on OnlyFans. Expect a bright, bemused tour of British life, offbeat truths and a comforting blast of humour and warmth for baffling times.There will be a BSL interpreter at this event.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Patrick Grant: Less is More

4 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Today the average person has nearly five times as many clothes as they did just 50 years ago. Our wardrobes are full to bursting with clothes we never wear, so why do we keep buying more? *Patrick Grant*, clothier and judge on *The Great British Sewing Bee*, loves clothes but despairs of the crisis of consumption in fashion. Hear Grant passionately discuss the broken global system and explain how we can make ourselves happier by rediscovering the joy of living with fewer, better-quality things.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Polly Toynbee & David Walker: The Only Way is Up

11 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

“We’re all in it together”, so went the Tory slogan. But after 14 years of Conservative governments, Britain is facing sharp social divisions, vastly increased inequality, a stagnant economy and unfulfilled climate change commitments. Bringing their expert analysis to the latest data across health, children’s services, the economy, environment, policing and defence, journalist *Polly Toynbee* and writer *David Walker* discuss how this damage might be repaired and what’s now needed to set the UK on the path to sustainable growth. Presented in partnership with Bowcliffe Wealth Management.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Susie Dent: Guilty by Definition

12 Oct 2024

14:30 - 15:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

*Susie Dent*, Queen of Countdown’s Dictionary Corner, comes to Ilkley to talk about her debut mystery novel, *Guilty by Definition *in an event that’s sure to delight word sleuths and crime fans alike. When a series of cryptic anonymous letters arrive at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary, editor Martha Thornhill suspects they may hold the answer to a long-unsolved disappearance. As Martha and her team of lexicographers scramble to unravel a thread of linguistic clues and reveal the truth, other forces vie to keep it buried. Can they find the answer before the clock runs down?

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Sir Graham Brady: Kingmaker

12 Oct 2024

17:15 - 18:15

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Cameron. May. Johnson. Truss. Sunak. Five leaders across fourteen years of Conservative rule. As Prime Ministers rose and fell, one man was at the heart of every leadership challenge. *Sir Graham Brady* was the Chairman of the 1922 Committee from 2010–24. As the leader of the group with the power to choose a new leader of the Conservative Party, his hand held the axe over five consecutive Prime Minister’s heads. Brady explains how he became the definitive Tory insider, where our leadership failures originated from and discusses what’s next for the Conservative Party.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Cathy Newman: The Ladder

15 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

All Saints’ Church

Looking for advice from women who’ve climbed the ladder of success, while dodging snakes along the way? Join Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman as she shares the wisdom she’s learnt from conversations with women who’ve achieved extraordinary things in their fields.

Newman will tackle imposter syndrome, explain how to find your purpose and how to not panic in a crisis. Be inspired to step up to the next rung and rise to new heights in your personal and professional life.This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

All Saints’ Church

4 Church St, Ilkley
LS29 9DS

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Shirley Ballas: Dance to the Death

16 Oct 2024

17:30 - 18:30

All Saints’ Church

Queen of Strictly, Shirley Ballas waltzes her way into the King’s Hall to cha-chat about her new murder mystery, Dance to the Death.

After solving a series of murders at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, all dance legend Lily Richmond and private detective Susie Cooper want is a peaceful Christmas. But when a rising star of the ballroom dancing world is found dead backstage at the Royal Albert Hall, a rest is out of the question. As Lily and Susie set to investigating, they find greater danger may be lurking behind the scenes…

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

All Saints’ Church

4 Church St, Ilkley
LS29 9DS

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow
Comedy | Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Julian Clary: Curtain Call to Murder

16 Oct 2024

20:00 - 21:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Comedy legend and bestselling author *Julian Clary* takes to the King’s Hall stage to discuss his theatrical new mystery novel *Curtain Call to Murder*. It is opening night at the London Palladium, and tensions are running high amongst the feuding cast of ‘Leopard Spots’. When an on-stage accident forces an unexpected intermission, it is clear to dresser Jayne that the drama has turned deadly. Will she step out of the wings and discover who was behind the final curtain call? Or will murder make an encore? Expect an evening of entertaining, devious and fabulous mystery! Presented in partnership with LCF Law.

Ticket Information

General/Concession £17.50/14.50

Get tickets

Venue Details

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

Get directions View profile

You might also like

Submit an event arrow