We loved it so much in 2021 that we’ve already booked another one at this truly special venue – Cober Hill, near Scarborough. We’ve also extended it by a day because last year everyone wanted more! Tutors Ali Harper and Anna Chilvers with guest author to be announced. Secret gardens. Single rooms. Ensuite. Workshops, seminars, space to write. Full Board £625.
In 2020, indie publisher Bluemoose Books decided to publish novels only from female authors. Those writers were Anna Vaught, Heidi James, Sharon Duggal and Anna Chilvers. This panel event brings Heidi, Sharon and Anna together to talk about writing, their lives and what the future holds, and will be chaired by Bluemoose Editor, Annie Warren.
This is a free event with an option to donate. All proceeds raised will be split equally between our four panellists. We really appreciate any amount that you can spare. Please register on the Eventbrite link and you will be sent a Zoom link for the event on Sunday 7th March at 5.30pm.
This is a partnership event between Leeds Big Bookend and Bluemoose Books. Copies of Bluemoose books can be obtained from: https://bluemoosebooks.com/ and other titles from the independent presses themselves or an independent bookshop near you.
In Writing the Landscape, our panel featuring Helen Mort, Anna Chilvers, Jason Allen-Paisant and Professor John Whale will discuss their prose and poetry writing and how landscape has affected and influenced their writing and lives.
LLF21 events are free to watch via Zoom.
Enjoying what we do? We ask if you would consider making a donation to help support the literature festival so we’re able to continue for years to come. Thank you.
Panel Members
Helen Mort is an award-winning author based in Sheffield. She has published two poetry collections (Division Street, 2013 and No Map Could Show Them, 2016), a debut novel (Black Car Burning, 2019), a short story collection (Exire, 2019) and she also writes drama and creative non fiction. Never Leave the Dog Behind, Our love of dogs and mountains is her latest book (2021). She has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and Costa Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2015. She regularly appears on BBC radio and sometimes on TV.
Anna Chilvers is a writer, a runner, a long distance walker, a mother, a teacher and a reader. She has three novels published by Bluemoose; East Coast Road (2020), Tainted Love (2016) and Falling Through Clouds (2010). She has written a collection of short stories, Legging It (Pennine Prospects, 2012) and has also written poetry and scripts. She is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing.
Jason Allen-Paisant is a Jamaican poet whose work addresses issues of race, class, and the environmental conditions underpinning Black identity. His poetry has been featured in Granta, The Poetry Review, PN Review, Callaloo, New Poetries VIII, BBC Radio 3’s The Verb, Stand, and other venues. His first full-length volume of poems, Thinking with Trees, will be published by Carcanet Press in summer 2021.
John Whale is a poet and an academic. He has published two collections of poems with Carcanet/Northern House, Waterloo Teeth (2010) and Frieze (2013). The former was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Forward Prize for best first collection. Since 2001 he has been a co-editor of Stand magazine.
Join us for the book launch of This New North, a new anthology showcasing the range of writing talent in the North of England. 12 of the writers featured in this anthology are graduates of the Northern Short Story Festival Academy programme which has helped to develop the voices of brand-new short story writers based in the region, alongside stories by Litro fiction editor Barney Walsh, author Anna Chilvers and author and critic Richard Smyth. This New North is edited by SJ Bradley and Anna Chilvers and published by Valley Press.
You can pre-order copies direct from publisher Valley Press.
This Anthology is supported by arts@Leeds, part of Leeds City Council and The Walter Swan Trust.
LLF21 events are free to watch via Zoom.
Enjoying what we do? We ask if you would consider making a donation to help support the literature festival so we’re able to continue for years to come. Thank you.
Following on from the success of 2020’s first foray into on-line writing retreats, Anna Chilvers and Ali Harper are again teaming up to offer a five-day, intensive novel-writing course online. The course is suitable for anyone who is interested in writing a novel, whether you’ve got a complete draft or just an idea brewing.
The cost is £150 all-inclusive, although sadly we can’t provide lunch or dinner! (If you would like to attend and the cost is prohibitive, please contact us as we may be able to offer some reductions to those in need).
What previous participants said:
Ali and Anna used their skill and initiative and gave us all the opportunity to Zoom to a wonderful week of writing, teaching, discussion and support. Learned a lot but enjoyed even more. New friends, fresh ideas and memories = the added value.
First rate course presented by first-rate tutors!
A fantastic week that got me through some very stuck areas, improved my writing and boosted my confidence
Highly recommended. Intense. Demanding and incredibly useful
email info@annachilvers.co.uk for more information
You are cordially invited tSigned copies of the book can be ordered from The Book Corner in Halifax
Everything you Need to Know about Writing a Novel
Anna Chilvers and Ali Harper have hosted an annual creative writing retreat at Wentworth Castle in South Yorkshire every summer for the last seven years. This year Covid-19 has thwarted their plans. However, not to be deterred, they’ve moved with the times and are offering a five-day, intensive novel-writing course online. The course is suitable for anyone who is interested in writing a novel, whether you’ve got a complete draft or just an idea brewing.
All sessions are optional and we realise you may be juggling other responsibilities. If there’s any workshops you can’t attend you will be sent detailed hand-outs. Full details of the sessions are included below.
Obviously these are strange times and it’s difficult to know what we’ll all be doing in July. For this reason we offer a complete no-quibble full-refund in the event you have to cancel your place.
The cost is £150 (£120 low income) all-inclusive, although sadly we can’t provide lunch or dinner! (If you would like to attend and the cost is prohibitive, please contact us as we may be able to offer some reductions to those in need).
For information on how to book please email info@annachilvers.co.uk
THIS COURSE HAS HAD TO BE POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 – WE HOPE TO RUN IT IN JULY 2021 – DATES TBC
Writing Retreat with Anna Chilvers and Ali Harper
For the seventh year running, Anna Chilvers and Ali Harper are delighted to host a tutored writing retreat, at Northern College based at the magnificent Grade 1 listed House of Wentworth Castle.
Anna and Ali are both published writers and inspirational creative writing tutors. They have worked together on many retreats and are passionate about enabling writers to express themselves creatively through the written word.
The course includes workshops, one to one tutorials, small group work, feedback and writing time. Writers are encouraged to share work both in class and at the Thursday night celebration.
New for 2020… is a Writing Marathon on the Friday morning before the course ends with a farewell lunch.
Check in is available from 12noon on Monday. The course starts with dinner on Monday evening and includes full board and College accommodation in single en-suite bedrooms.
You are welcome to stay for the afternoon on Friday – there is a beautiful library with stunning views in which to work.
The cost for the course is £460 and includes full board from Monday dinner to Friday lunch.
Please email annaruthchilvers@gmail.com for more information and bookings.
Finding Stillness and Connections in Challenging Times
What strange times we are living through – and as writers it can be difficult to find time and space to write. Some of us have lost access to the places we normally write in, such as cafés, libraries and offices. Some are now having to share space and time with other people when we’re used to writing alone. Even those who still have physical space may be finding it difficult to focus on writing when there are so many other worries to fill our heads.
This short writing course, led by novelists Ali Harper and Anna Chilvers, is intended to bring some of that writing space back into your life. It offers a full programme of workshops, writing meditations and focus groups via Zoom. You will get to take part in discussions with other writers, and you will have an opportunity for a one-to-one with one of the tutors. On the last morning there will be a communal writing marathon.
The cost is £50 all inclusive. (If you would like to attend and the cost is prohibitive, please contact us as we may be able to offer some reductions to those in need).
For information on how to book please email info@annachilvers.co.uk
Creative Writing Day School – The Art of Landscape
with Anna Chilvers and Sally Baker
Join us for a creative writing day school with options to attend poetry and prose workshops.We will look at ways in which landscape has been represented in art and literature, and consider how the themes interact. There will be a variety of practical writing exercises, as well as a chance to share your work and chat to other writers. Anna Chilvers and Sally Baker are both experienced teachers and published writers.
Drinks available. Bring your own lunch. Cafe nearby.