new writing from emerging and established writers
Walking the Line
Thoughts on Walking the Line, post-event.
More Information
Writer or walker, join us for a series of 'walkshops' along the Stanza Stones Trail: Marsden to Hebden Bridge (Fri 18 Oct), Hebden Bridge to Bingley (Sat 19 Oct), Bingley to Ilkley (Sun 20 Oct).
A group of writers will walk from Marsden to Ilkley along the route of the Stanza Stones (a sequence of six poems carved into stone, written for the Ilkley Literature Festival, by Simon Armitage). The route will take over three days and will include poetry readings along the way and walking workshops where members of the public will be able to get constructive feedback on their work in progress.
The Stanza Stones Walkshop Project is a three day journey of 47 miles, undertaken by four published poets (Michael Stewart, Julia Deakin, William Thirsk-Gaskill and Gaia Holmes), who will walk from Marsden to Ilkley along the route of the Stanza Stones. They will be joined along the way by other Grist writers, poets and members of the public. The route visits a number of isolated rural communities. We will be encouraging emerging writers to join us for part of the walk, or as much of the walk they wish. During this time, the four poets will give the writers constructive feedback on their work (if solicited).
We will connect up with a number of local writing groups along the way, such as Calderdale Young Writers, Leeds Young Authors, Tadeeb International New Writers, The Writing Squad, and the Ilkley Literature Festival Young Writers, as well as otherrelevant community groups. We will also be in contact with the leaders of these groups prior to the event in order to organise logistics.
For those who are not able to walk with us, we will be setting up points along the walk where they can meet up with us in settings such as cafes and community spaces. The idea for this project is to celebrate the achievement of the original Stanza Stones initiative by providing additional opportunities and events.
We will visit each of the sites where the original poems are and members of the public will be free to join us to discuss them. The project will reach a range of rural communities that are normally overlooked as places suitable for literary events of this nature. In addition, there is also the potential to provide lunchtime readings on each day of the journey if requested.
We will be carrying a walking sock with us that has been kindly donated by Simon Armitage. We will be using this to collect money for charity along the way. Our chosen charity is The Reader Organisation. The Reader Organisation our a registered charity, who work with some of the most vulnerable and excluded people in society, including prisoners and people in secure forensic psychiatric settings, children in care or excluded from school, and people suffering dementia and severe depression; as well as company employees, library users, students, parents, people entering retirement and those at risk of isolation.
For more information, please go here: http://www.thereader.org.uk/
- Everyone is welcome to join us on our walk, but do be aware that the full walk is suitable for experienced walkers only.
- Please wear suitable footwear and carry food, drink and waterproofs.
- You walk entirely at your own risk.
- Dogs are welcome as long as they are under control.
You can download a full guide to the Stanza Stones trail for free here.
Day one: Launch event in Marsden (Thursday 17th October 2013)
Day two: Marsden to Hebden Bridge. 18.4 miles (Friday 18th October 2013)
The route passes close to Denshaw, Milnrow, Littleborough, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, as well as a number of smaller hamlets, farm buildings and settlements. There will be prior communication with community
leaders and library managers to connect the walk to a range of settings on the way. The day will culminate in the four poets giving an evening performance of their work in Hebden Bridge, which will include an open mic event for members of the public to be involved.
Day three: Hebden Bridge to Bingley. 14.5 miles (Saturday 19th October 2013)
The route passes close to Mytholmroyd, Oxenhope, Cullingworth, Harden and Bingley, as well as a number of smaller hamlets, farm buildings and settlements.
The day will culminate in the four poets giving an evening performance of their work in Bingley, which will include an open mic event for members of the public to be involved.
Day four: Bingley to Ilkley. 14.1 miles (Sunday 20th October 2013)
The route passes close to Keighley, Riddlesden, Silsden and Ilkley, as well as a number of smaller hamlets, farm buildings and settlements. The day will culminate in the four poets giving an evening performance of their work at the Ilkley Literature Festival, which will include an open mic event for members of the public to be involved. This event is the final event of the 2013 Festival.
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THE READER ORGANISATION is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that has pioneered the movement of shared reading as a practical way of improving wellbeing, building stronger communities and extending reading pleasure. The charity's mission is to build a 'reading revolution', connecting people with great literature and each other through weekly 'Get Into Reading' groups, facilitator training, events and literary publications (www.thereader.org.uk). |
Meeting points and times
Launch event
Thursday 17 October: Marsden
7.30pm – Riverhead Tarvern, Marsden, HD7 6BR (followed by open mic event). FREE.
LEG 1
Friday 18 October: Marsden
8.30am – meet by the canal on the opposite side to the station, next to The Railway pub.
1pm – 1.30pm – meet at The White House pub, Blackstone Edge, Halifax Road, Littleborough.
Evening performance
7.30pm – Hebden Bridge Library, HX7 8EP (followed by open mic event). FREE.
LEG 2
Saturday 19 October: Hebden Bridge
8.30am – meet at the Nutclough Inn, Keighley Road (A6033), Hebden Bridge.
12pm – 12.30pm – meet at The Dog and Gun pub, Denholme Road, Oxenhope.
Evening performance
7.30pm – The Brown Cow, Bingley, BD16 2QX (followed by open mic event). FREE.
LEG 3
Sunday 20 October: Bingley
9am – meet outside Bingley Railway Station, BD16 2NA.
3.45pm – Poetry Post Box Walk: Meet the Poets Walking the Line
Meet on the grass outside Rombalds Hotel (see brochure for more details p.50: http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/download-programme/
Evening performance
7.30pm – St. Margaret’s Hall £5/3 (followed by open mic event at Ilkley Playhouse Wildman 8.30-10pm)
See also events 211, 221 and 226 in the Ilkley Literature Festival brochure. Download here: http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/download-programme/
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE EMAIL MICHAEL STEWART m.stewart@hud.ac.uk
Promo Film
