Read our statement on CORONAVIRUS and the cancellation of our live events HERE

REFUNDS – A PLEA: If you are waiting for a ticket refund, please can we ask for your patience – we have thousands to process. Please do not call our helpline or email us about refunds. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.

Rescheduled events

Gentleman Jack with Anne Choma

New date announced: Sunday 4 October

See GENTLEMAN JACK EVENTS PAGE for more information on tickets & refunds.

Amanda Owen: The Yorkshire Shepherdess

New dates announced: Sunday 20 September, Holmfirth & Sunday 27 September Marsden

See AMANDA OWEN, HOLMFIRTH EVENT PAGE
& AMANDA OWEN, MARSDEN EVENT PAGE
for more information on tickets and refunds.
Please note, both events are currently sold out. If more tickets become available they will be offered to those signed up to our newsletter first.

We hope you enjoyed our online Mini-Fest

With the help of our brilliant authors and performers, we posted lots of entertaining, thought-provoking and supportive content on our website and social media over the 10 days of the Festival – from author readings and Q&As to creative writing advice. Thank you to all who took part.

In Can You Hear Me? paramedic ‘Jake Jones’ shares a fascinating insight into one of the most important and demanding jobs that anyone can do – under normal circumstances. We’d like to say a huge thank you to ‘Jake’ and all the NHS workers dealing with Coronavirus on top of their usual duties.

Husband and wife team Bob and Carol, who write as RC Bridgestock, have a new crime fiction series – and it’s set in Huddersfield. Read all about their policing experience, how they started as novelists and their writing process, and about their work on top TV crime dramas HERE.

Sally-Anne Edward is a Mindfulness Instructor at Kindmind, a Huddersfield-based business offering mindfulness training for all.

She shares her thoughts on how mindfulness can help us in challenging times HERE.

​Nell Pattison is a debut author who was due to give a reading at our Festival as part of our event with the ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid.

We hope to reschedule this event at a future point, but for now we have commissioned a Q&A with Nell about her novel, The Silent House, which you can read HERE.

Meg Pokrass was due to teach her Fiery Flash Fiction Workshop at our Festival – instead we have a special treat for you: a brand new story, Glamping in the Mist. Click HERE to read it and for a link to Meg’s Flash Fiction writing tips

‘My characters hug, and kiss, and jostle each other in busy streets…writing these scenes feels weird and even archaic; perhaps a little transgressive. This is not what we do.’

David Barnett explains why Things Can Only Get Better… read more HERE.

Looking for feedback on your writing? Paul Burston and VG Lee are offering special Festival rates on critiques of your work, from an 800-word extract to a full ms. Find out more HERE.

Listen to Paul introducing and reading from his latest bestseller, The Closer I Get, HERE and VG Lee reading from her short story collection Oh You Pretty Thing HERE. Aspiring writers can enjoy VG Lee’s Writing Tips HERE.

Louise Beech was due to perform at Polari, run by Paul Burston – an LGBTQ+ literary salon, which we look forward to hosting every year. You can listen to Louise introducing and reading from her latest novel The Lion Tamer Who Lost HERE.

Another of our Polari performers is Andrew McMillan. His debut, physical, was the first poetry collection to win the Guardian First Book Award.

He introduces and reads poems from his latest collection playtime HERE.

Rachel Kelly reads ‘A Message to Myself’ for World Poetry Day (21 March) HERE. She also offers up her Top Tips for Sustaining your Mental Wellness Through the Coronavirus, to replace her planned talk at the Festival. Read them HERE and please share widely.

Paul Mendez introduces and reads from his debut novel Rainbow Milk, (Dialogue Books 23 April). Paul was due to join us for Celebrating Toni Morrison – we hope to reschedule for March 2021. You can listen to the intro and reading HERE and order an early copy from Fox Lane Books.

Find out more about our special HLF2020 project: The Creative Mind

Welcome to the award-winning Huddersfield Literature Festival

Join us for an annual celebration of books and authors, poetry and performance, with community, accessibility and inclusivity at its heart. Meet your favourite authors, discover new talent, hone your own skills or simply come along and enjoy the entertainment on offer. Many free or low-cost events, some with live subtitling by Stagetext, and AccessAble Access Guides to key venues.