Words will come to life at festival (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Words will come to life at festival

8:58am Tuesday 9th December 2008 in News By Jim Greenhalf

It’s very handy having the director of Huddersfield Literature Festival living in Bradford.

Playwright, artist and university lecturer Michael Stewart is able to give the T&A advance notice of what he’s got planned for the festival, which next year has been shortened from a sprawling fortnight to a compact five afternoons and evenings in March.

Among the headlining acts will be punk rock musician Mark E Smith and The Fall, Manchester punk poet John Cooper Clarke, the bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan, novelist Joanne Harris, poetry performer Lemn Sissay and – perhaps – poet, writer and would-be rock star Simon Armitage.

In addition, the winners of the poetry and short story competitions for Huddersfield University’s new annual literary magazine, Grist, will be announced on the opening night. The six winners of these two competitions, which will be judged by Simon Armitage and Joanne Harris, will win prizes totalling in the region of £1,000.

Michael says: “I want to take the written word off the page and celebrate it in all its forms. The festival will start with a cabaret show called Dr Book’s Burlesque, which will include dancers and a bit of stand-up comedy by Nick Stanley. The jokes and stories will be about writers and writing.

“Mark E Smith will change the status of the festival. This is only the third literary festival that he’s agreed to do.

“Each of the three weekdays will have the same structure: a workshop in the afternoon, a show at 6pm for emerging writers and an established act at 7.30pm.

“On Friday, March 13, the main show will be The Cartoon History Of Huddersfield by artist Tony Husband and Ian McMillan. That will start at 7.30pm.

“On the Saturday, John Cooper Clarke and Joanne Harris will both be headlining; that’s because I guessed they would attract very different audiences and so wouldn’t cut across each other.

“On the last day, the Sunday, there will be a walk in Calderdale connecting the places associated with Ted Hughes (the Poet Laureate who died ten years ago). That starts at Mytholmroyd at lunchtime.

“There will be a workshop in the afternoon and a presentation by the small press Salt publishing. At 7.30pm Mark E Smith will play at St Paul’s Hall, after being interviewed on stage, I hope, by Simon Armitage or myself.”

Other details are still being worked out. The programme, which Michael hopes to have printed this month, will also have information about travel arrangements, parking and the festival’s five venues.

These are the Lawrence Batley Theatre, the Media Centre near the Beast Market, Huddersfield University, St Paul’s Hall and Huddersfield Town Hall.

• For more information on the festival and how to buy tickets, call (01484) 430528.