Headingley LitFest: February 2022

Wednesday 23 February 2022

New website for Headingley LitFest

Richard Wilcocks writes:

We decided to replace our old website last year, and now we have done it! It is still more or less in draft form, but will soon have more pages. Take a look -

https://headingleylitfest.com

Sunday 13 February 2022

George Orwell in Headingley - lots of interest

A large photo of George Orwell was quickly recognised by local people visiting Headingley's Farmers' Market on Saturday (12 February), part of a display about the events on 5 March. Many of them are really surprised that the great author stayed with his sister for a while in 1936 in a street which is very well-known amongst the student population nowadays. Several said the walk sounded like fun. We'll be doing it whatever the weather incidentally, so bring a brolly just in case.

Thursday 10 February 2022

Two Thursday evening events for Headingley LitFest

TWO THURSDAY EVENINGS

Two Headingley LitFest events are coming up which are not part of Leeds Lit Fest: first at 7pm on Thursday 3 March in Headingley Library/Hub, RAY BROWN will be relaunching his new novel WHOOSH! which according to many readers is hilarious. He'd like you to bring your own memories of what you were doing in 1979 - or maybe what your parents were doing.

Second, DOUG SANDLE will be giving a talk and showing a powerpoint at 7pm on Thursday 10 March in Headingley Library. It is entitled The Poetry of Seeing: Visual Illusions and Ekphrasis. He'll explain that Ekphrasis is poetry about or inspired by works of art and read (and show) some of his own ekphrastic poems. One of them is inspired by this one - Patrick Hughes's Liquorice Allsorts.

Both events Pay As You Feel.

Registration tickets for George Orwell in Headingley on 5 March (click on the event on www.leedlitfest.co.uk) are going fast. Got yours yet?

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LITERARY HEADINGLEY

Headingley is just the place for it! Don't expect a big circus with marquees, though: we're not at that stage yet. We're all volunteers as well.

Our venues include the HEART Centre on Bennett Road, the New Headingley Club on St Michael's Road, friendly cafés, historic local cinemas, Headingley Library, people's houses and the historic Leeds Library in Commercial Street, city centre.

Headingley's Literary Links

Headingley has strong connections with many writers:

Arthur Ransome was born in Headingley, J R R Tolkien lived at 5 Holly Bank and also at 2 Darnley Road, West Park when he was reader in English Language at the University of Leeds 1920 - 25, Alan Bennett lived over a butcher's shop opposite the Three Horseshoes, now Royale Dry Cleaners.

Lucy Newlyn has published poetry about her early life in Headingley, George Orwell stayed at 21 Estcourt Avenue with his sister Marjorie and her husband Humphrey 'Humpy' Dakin (with whom he visited the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth), T S Eliot used to visit his mother-in-law in Weetwood Lane, William Fryer Harvey was brought up in Spring Bank, Trevor Griffiths lived just off Victoria Road on Winstanley Terrace, Jon Silkin's first office of STAND magazine was his flat at 144 Otley Road, Sir Geoffrey Hill lived in Shire Oak Road, Peter Redgrove lived in Headingley between 1962 and 1965 when he was Gregory Fellow of Poetry at the University of Leeds, and playwright Kay Mellor still lives near The Hollies in Far Headingley.

Wilson Barrett, the charismatic first manager of the Grand Theatre, Leeds (a prolific playwright as well), lived in Beech Grove Terrace, Woodhouse in the 1870s. His house was a meeting place for many writers, artists and visitors to Leeds - such as W. S. Gilbert, George Grossmith and Atkinson Grimshaw.

Headingley LitFest 2020 was the thirteenth. The fourteenth will take place from March 2021 and will be adapted to the rules of the Covid pandemic. We are now a proud part of the annual Leeds Lit Fest.