STORYTELLING with a top Australian Aboriginal writer, a writing masterclass for schools and a streamlining of the ticket system will be paid for with a £24,000 grant to Ilkley Literature Festival.

The Literature Festival learned this week that the Arts Council England is to give it £24,667 towards a variety of projects this year and next. The money also means that for the first time, the festival will be able to pay its chosen 'poet in residence' for his or her work during the

festival.

This year's prestigious festival will take place from September 30 to October 16, and more details of the events are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The festival organisers learned earlier this year that it has gained another three-year funding deal from the Arts Council, and this has risen significantly. The latest cash injection announced will add to what the festival has to offer.

Festival director, Rachel Feldberg, said: "We have got a great deal going on. This money has made a huge difference to us, we were very fortunate the Arts Council agreed to give it.

"It recognises what everybody in Ilkley puts into the festival and the support from local people. Without support of our local audiences, there'd be no point in doing any of this."

The festival will use the additional funding for several projects this year, and hopes to improve the international flavour of the festival.

One of the highlights this year -- in conjunction with the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate, will see Australian Herb Wharton visit Ilkley to hold workshops and a storytelling session.

The funding is also destined to run another fiction masterclass for students at Ilkley Grammar School, Greenhead School in Keighley and a third school, which has yet to be announced. Award-winning novelist and children's writer, Sophie Hannah, will lead the masterclass.

A similar project took place last year, and festival organisers say they were impressed by the standard of last year's work.

Although the identity of this year's festival Poet in Residence has yet to be revealed, the new Arts Council funding means the festival will be able to pay the chosen poet. Previously, the poet has been paid for work in local schools, but all the other work for the festival has been done on a voluntary basis.

Festival-goers may also see a quicker and smoother system of booking tickets for the various festival events in future, as the funding will also assist in a revamp and computerisation of the booking system.

The money will also be used for next year's festival. It is hoped that celebrated South African actress, dramatist, poet and children's story writer Gcine Mhalope will be able to return to the festival in 2006 for work with storytelling. She has taken part in the Ilkley Summer Festival before and the organisers were keen to work with her again.