Ilkley Literature Festival’s Walking the Line next week was inspired by Simon Armitage’s Pennine Way literary trek of several years ago.

Seven of the Marsden-born poet’s pieces were subsequently chiselled into rocks between his hometown and Ilkley Moor.

The Stanza Stones, as they are known, roughly mark the 47-mile route that four writers intend to traverse over three days and reading from their books of poems in four shows along the way.

Michael Stewart, Julia Deakin, William Thirsk Gaskill and Gaia Holmes call their trek Walking the Line.

By the time they finish at Ilkley’s St Margaret’s Hall on Sunday evening, October 20, they hope their poetry hike will have raised a goodly sum for the charity The Reader Organisation.

Michael Stewart did a three-hour workshop at a Durham women’s prison last year on behalf of the charity.

He said: “I was very impressed with the work being done to help people who were in prison for no other reason than they couldn’t read and had got into trouble.

“It puts people who can’t read with people who can and invites writers to come in talk about their work. John Hegley, John Burnside and Lionel Shriver, who wrote We Need to talk Abour Kevin, have all helped.

“We’ll be taking one of Simon Armitage’s walking socks with us to Marsden’s Riverhead Tavern, the library at Hebden Bridge, the Brown Cow at Bingley on the Saturday and St Margaret’s Hall in Ilkley on the Sunday to collect donations.

“We’ll have helpers along the route, so we won’t be carrying the money sock with us.”

Before the intrepid four put on their waterproofs and walking boots, William Thirsk Gaskill will be reading from and talking about his work at Ilkley Playhouse on Monday, starting at 9pm.

His companions have all had slim volumes published this year: Julia Deakin’s Eleven Wonders, Michael Stewart’s Couples and Gaia Holmes’ Lifting The Piano With One Hand with its funny and poignant title poem.

The famous four hope to be joined along the route by other writers from across the region and that they’ll be time to walk and talk and share poems before they get to their scheduled destinations.

For more information about times and venues go to mhm.hud.ac.uk/ grist/walking.html