Officially launched

It was the first major gathering of the LitFest clan at the New Headingley Club, and the emphasis was on poetry, under the amiable eye of compere James Nash, who not only read his own work, but introduced three other main readers - Liz Bertola, Helen Burke and Richard Raftery. In the previous two LitFests, James has been subterranean, performing and compering in the cellar of the Dare Café, and has now emerged into the upper air. He is revealing himself more and more as a master of the sonnet. The audience was most appreciative.


By the door, tombola prizes were displayed - and plenty of scented candles were won, but not the whisky, which will be raffled at the end of the LitFest on a suitable occasion. A huge new screen at the end of the room showed Lawnswood students dancing and reciting at last year's Poetry Slam. There was a sort of long pause before they came up at the end of the evening because the DVD was playing up. Thanks to Mary Francis for sorting the problem.

Glimpses of our past

The meeting room was, what's the word.......august......that's it. Appropriate for the occasion. Lots of oak. It was filled with appreciative people as well, there for Poetry at the Brotherton. I had no idea the room was there when I was a student at Leeds University: the Brotherton was mainly for revision before Finals, directly under the pantheonic dome. Well, here we all were, survivors.

The readings began at 8.30pm after an informative introduction from Chris Sheppard from Special Collections, in which he told us about the illustrious line of Gregory Fellows and the benign influence of Professor Bonamy Dobrée. Most of the names mentioned were from before my time at the university (I first came across Bonamy Dobrée's name on my reading list - Restoration Comedy, I believe) and I looked at my fellow readers - Jon Glover, Doug Sandle and Jeff Wainwright - with a certain measure of smugness, because I was the youngest amongst them. Not often I can say that nowadays.

Congratulations to Doug for doing most of the organising for this successful event - and also to Kathryn Jenner, the guardian lioness of Special Collections.

I read a selection of poems by Geoffrey Hill (English Department staff 1954 - 1981), who was my tutor in 1967 - 1968, beginning at the beginning with Genesis and finishing with Tristia: 1891-1938, A Valediction to Osip Mandelstam. I had to edit out so much from the initial list: I would have loved to have said more about poor Mandelstam, for example, who was killed by Stalin, who had himself been published as a (Georgian nationalist) poet in his early years just after he left the seminary. I had plans at one stage to sing something by John Dowland as well.

Doug Sandle produced more laughter than me, first with his selection of poems by William Price Turner (Gregory Fellow 1960 - 1962) whose University Vignettes were hilarious, then with a selection of poems by Martin Bell and himself. I felt strongly for  Bell in his From the City of Dreadful Something, and particularly remember Doug's poem The Stone Gatherer, which is dedicated to Ken Smith and his son on their first visit to the Isle of Man. Doug tells me that pruning back the first list of choices was difficult, but we couldn't have gone on until midnight.

Jon Glover remembered a sit-in which I had mentioned earlier, which took place in the Parkinson Court in 1968 to protest against the university security men, who had been taking the names of students holding up placards with various messages about the Vietnam War, but his main memory was of the extraordinary Jon Silkin (Gregory Fellow 1958) who had founded Stand magazine in 1952, and whose early career had embraced teaching English as a Foreign Language  and gravedigging. Jon Glover is the current editor, and copies of the latest issue were on sale at the event. He read The Coldness, by Silkin, which is about the pogrom against the Jews of York in 1190 - a poem I remember from many years ago. Poems by Glover included the excellent CERN: Frontiers, Grave-Diggers.

Jeff Wainwright (student 1962 - 1967) reminisced as well, and spoke of Geoffrey Hill, about whom he has written seminal essays. He mentioned his great attention to detail - every word matters, none of them are for the wind, proofreading is inevitably important - and the fact that he was a good and sympathetic tutor to most, leaving his mark on many. I agree. He read a series of short poems by himself, and also by Ken Smith, a poet I had previously (misleadingly) characterised in my mind as 'non-difficult'. Jeff had driven up from Manchester to be with us.

Below - Jeff Wainwright and Jon Glover.

Strange goings-on at Lento

It's a good job there were extra chairs in the Café Lento on Wednesday evening: if anybody else had turned up, they would have had to swing from the chandeliers, which would have been challenging, because there aren't any. It was St Patrick's night, and groups of revellers were walking past the big window during the short story readings wearing those high and hideous I-am-a-little-leprechaun hats with Guinness badges on them, proving that the wearers were not of Irish heritage. They might have been Polish. They like revelling. The first story was set in Ireland. It was by Roddy Doyle, had a Polish protagonist named Halina who was in charge of a pram containing babies, and was read by the man with the coffee machine - Richard Lindley. One item in it was a pretty horrific story with a supernatural tinge, which set the tone for the evening.

Because by coincidence, all the stories that followed had a supernatural tinge - Moira Garland's included a lady from Victorian times, Doug Sandle's was about strange goings on during his childhood on the Isle of Man, mine was entitled I Invented a Ghost and Peter Spafford's was about the otherworldly laughter his mother used to hear.

The audience, according to what was said afterwards, loved everything. They asked us for more soon. Perhaps we'll convene again in the summer.

Congratulations

.....to Headingley resident Kay Mellor, now Kay Mellor OBE!

Are you around, John Comer?

If you're reading this, John Comer, we - Doug Sandle and myself - would like to know where you are. You are a one-time resident of Headingley, and our attention has just been drawn to your recently-published The Old Time. So are you close enough to come to any LitFest events or to join us for a drink in Arcadia, which is very close to where you once lived in Alma Road?

The Old Time - ISBN 142514298-2 Trafford Publishing

Email us at heveliusx1@yahoo.co.uk

Below, John in the 1960s. Photo taken by Dave Williams in Moorland Avenue, LS6

Sunshine

Yes, sunshine! Today!The sky is as blue as a blackbird's egg, and the warmth is so welcome after the dip in temperature last week. It won't be long before we plant the Kiwi fruit, and it's a sure sign that we'll soon be off to a good start. 

Hundreds of people milled around on the lawn in front of the main rose garden at Headingley Farmers' Market this morning, and plenty of them took our programme-leaflet, albeit a little absent-mindedly as they listened to the music which wafted in their direction from the gamelan players. Let's hope they all come to at least one of the events! Tickets are shifting as well, especially for novelist David Peace, normally based in Japan but in Yorkshire at the moment.

Richard Lindley, maître d' at the illustrious Café Lento, revealed today that he will begin the proceedings next Wednesday with a reading of his favourite short story - by Roddy Doyle. As the one-time owner of a historic Norton motorcycle, he has been talking about an event based on the Motorcycle Diaries (Notas de Viaje - Diarios de Motocicleta) of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara , who rode one when he was still a medical student and who has gained Richard's admiration simply for being able to cope with it. Perhaps at some time in the future, some kind of shortened, episodic presentation of the Diaries could be presented along with music from South America, or perhaps a clip from the film directed by Walter Salles could be shown. We shall see. There are several musical groups in West Yorkshire which could fill the bill.

In the picture - sunshine in one of Headingley's forest glades....if you want to find out about Headingley's biodiversity, or its many polytunnels, or future plans, click HERE now.

Two more writers who lived in Headingley

Thanks, June, for the information that Arnold Kettle and William Fryer Harvey were once residents of Headingley.

Arnold Kettle (1916 - 86) was a respected Marxist literary critic who was a lecturer in English Literature at the University of Leeds from 1948-1967. After leaving Leeds he became Professor of Literature at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and then the first Professor of Literature at the Open University.

He produced some influential literary criticism, including The Nineteenth Century Novel, and An Introduction to the English Novel, and was an important contributor to the journal Marxism Today. He was also editor of Shakespeare in a Changing World.

The Kettles lived on Moor road, Headingley. Their son, Martin, amongst other things an outstanding Guardian  journalist and commentator, was born in Leeds in 1949 and attended Leeds Modern School.

Above - Arnold Kettle

William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937) was born into an affluent Quaker family. His cheerful upbringing at Spring Bank, Headingley, was described in the memoir We Were Seven. 

He was a successful writer of tales in the mystery and horror genres. One of his best known stories, The Beast with Five Fingers, was made into a movie in 1946, starring Peter Lorre, and regenerating interest in his work. So what did he look like? If you know of a photo, please send it to us.

In the meantime, here is a poster for the film:

Chris Mould is wicked!

It doesn't matter that much if you come with or without children - Chris Mould is pure magic. Wickedly Weird as well.


He is at Headingley Library on the last day of the LitFest - 27 March at 1.30pm - and you don't have to pay a penny. He is not just going to talk, but draw as well.


Chris Mould was born in Bradford and has lived and worked there all his life. He began drawing at a very early age and hasn't stopped since. He trained in Art colleges and Polytechnic for six years altogether starting in Dewsbury College and moving to Leeds, during which time he gained a joint honours degree in Graphic Design and Illustration. Since then he has been working as a freelance illustrator. More recently his work has been used in television and in feature film development.


Chris has illustrated several books for Oxford University Press. His latest illustrations are for the Measle series, where Chris really manages to bring the characters to life.

 

You can find out what you are letting yourself in for by visiting the website. Click HERE to go to it.

Tolkien on Mastermind

Richard Wilcocks writes:
Thanks for the new email, Karen. I missed that episode of Mastermind on the BBC as well, but now I have found it, and there's plenty on Tolkien. How many people know that he caught Trench Fever in 1916 during the Great War and had to be sent back to England? Saved his life? Without Trench Fever, no Lord of the Rings? What if? The Mastermind episode is HERE. The Tolkien questions are about five minutes in.

Tolkien in Headingley

 

Richard Wilcocks writes:

Contrary to what people keep telling me, and in response to a few email queries, one-time Headingley resident J. R. R. Tolkien did not write The Hobbit in Leeds. Thanks to Karen for your research on Lord of the Rings, as well, while we are on the subject - you had something to do with the filming in New Zealand, so you should know. And incidentally it's good news that The Chocolate Fish is open again in Wellington!

Tolkien was Reader and then Professor of English Language at the University of Leeds from 1920 to 1925. Just before he left to become Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, he brought out an edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The second edition of this (with his colleague E.V.Gordon) followed in 1930 and remained influential throughout the twentieth century.

And I have no idea whether or not Tolkien supped pints in Whitelocks. I like to think that he did.

Whatever happened to Phyllis Bentley?

Phyllis Bentley was not from Headingley but from Halifax, where she spent almost her entire life. Her family was closely involved with a textile industry which has now largely disappeared. When she is remembered at all, it is as the writer of regional novels, and her West Riding was considered, in its day, to be a kind of equivalent of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex. She was highly praised by the likes of Arnold Bennett, Hugh Walpole and that other great literary figure from Yorkshire, J. B. Priestley.

Her novel Inheritance is set in the times of the Luddites, with a mill owner’s son in love with a mill girl, and is a little reminiscent of Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley. It sold very well in the Thirties, and was translated into a number of languages. Bentley was fascinated by the Brontës, and her book on them is something of a classic, still selling steadily and used as a reference. So why has she faded into obscurity, unlike Hardy?

This will be one of the questions addressed in Headingley Library on Tuesday 23 March at 7pm by Dave Russell. The ticket is three pounds – with two pounds for concessions. There are refreshments too.

Click top right for the programme

Want a programme leaflet?

If you would like to take a few of our just-published programme leaflets, or if you want a digital (pdf) version to pass on to friends on your email network, contact us at the email address on the right of your screen.

Linda's launch

After studying modern languages at university, Linda Marshall took up her old hobby of penning verse (serious and funny) and joined the Aireings co-operative of women writers and poets. She also made a few contacts at Leeds Writers’ Circle and poetry became a way of life. Involved in the production of two poetry magazines, she particularly enjoyed the editing side of things. It is always exciting to find work of merit by new poets.

In the mid ’90s she became a member of Pennine Poets, who used to meet at Mabel Ferrett’s house in Heckmondwike. Linda’s work has been included and commented on in the Pennine Poet 40th Anniversary Anthologies.

Recently Linda has taken part in many open mike sessions. Writing for performance, she finds, is an enjoyable challenge, but some of her poems are meant for the page.

She likes to experiment with style and at times she uses rhyme to get her point across. “The writing process can be full of surprises and the possible outcomes are infinite. One bizarre thought can be transformed into a whole new way of looking at things.”

Linda is currently associated with Lucht Focail, a group of Irish writers and poets, and she has run a few creative writing workshops.

Her launch as part of Headingley LitFest will be at the Flux Gallery, Midland Road on Saturday 20 March at 7.30pm

T S Eliot in Whitelocks

So did T S Eliot really drink at Whitelocks?

Please contact the blog if you can confirm this.

Sports Writing Competition

Richard Wilcocks writes:

Last March, the Create a Story Sports Writing Competition was a real success, with tall piles of entries, many of a very high standard. Now we are doing it again, but this time attempting to involve more school students: every single high school in the Leeds area has just been sent letters, entry forms and posters to display and to photocopy, and the same materials have been put online.

The competition was born out of discussions between Leeds Rugby Foundation's Arts Steering Group and Headingley LitFest, which took place in 2008 and which have continued ever since. We get on! Headingley should be known for its sporting connections and much, much more.

The competition is open to all students between the ages of eleven and sixteen. Entries must be received at Headingley Stadium by 26 February. The judges will be the same as last year - myself, Glenn Horsman (Leeds Rugby Learning Centre) and sports writer Phil Caplan.

This is from the entry form:

Your story must be about a fictional sporting event, but you can use your own experiences for inspiration! It can be about any sport at any level. It should be no longer than 500 words if you are 12 years old or less (not including the 100 below) and no longer than 1000 words (not including the 100 below) if you are 13 years old or more.

............


Your story must start using the following paragraphs:

It felt strange to be wearing the new colours, strange but exhilarating. He/she had sweated hard to be chosen to wear them, and now it was the big day, the first chance to show all those loyal supporters what he/she was made of. All the eyes would be on him/her.

The chanting was reaching a climax. It was time to begin.

There will be a presentation on the pitch at half time in the Leeds Rhinos v Hull Kingston Rovers match on Friday 19 March at Headingley Stadium. The winning entry (or extracts from it), together with information on the LitFest, will appear in the match programme.