Writing workshops, comedy, poetry, trains, quizzes, graphic novels, football and Michael Portillo. You couldn’t make it up, could you?
For full details see our What’s On guide.
In the meantime, here are a few selected excerpts we think you’ll enjoy.
Star names
Michael Portillo
National Railway Museum, Leeman Road
Fri Mar 11, 8-9.30pm
£18.50 plus booking fee
Michael Portillo is best known for losing his parliamentary seat in 1997. But, in the years since, he has built a new career as a writer, broadcaster and train buff, all of which he’s discussing at the National Railway Museum (in between staring lovingly at the locos).
At the end of his talk, the audience can ask questions about his life and career.
Val McDermid
St Peter’s School, Clifton
Sun Mar 13, 7-8.30pm
£10
Val McDermid is one of the biggest names in crime writing. Her novels have been translated into 30 languages, selling over 10 million copies worldwide.
She’s in conversation with festival director Miles Salter, talking about her 27 novels, short stories, non-fiction and prize-winning children’s book.
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Arthur Smith
Grand Opera House, Cumberland Street
Sat Mar 12, 7.30-10pm
£19.90 plus £4 booking fee
Wit, raconteur, playwright, grumpy old man and Leonard Cohen fan Arthur Smith talks about his life as a former road sweeper, dustman, market researcher, teacher and walking advertisement (he dressed up as a fox to sell chicken burgers) and the meaning of life.
His support is writer, Private Eye cartoonist and performer Mike Barfield
Margaret Drabble
St Peter’s School, Clifton
Tue Mar 15, 7-8.30pm
£7
Educated at The Mount School in York, Dame Margaret Drabble has gone on to become one of the UK’s leading literary writers.
She’s in conversation with Jo Lawrence, head of English at St Peter’s.
Wendy Cope
Grand Opera House, Cumberland Street
Sat Mar 12, 3-4.30pm
£11.90 plus £4 booking fee
She started her career Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis in 1986 and has since become a leading light of the British poetry scene.
Expect ruminations on love, loss, women bishops and The Archers.
John O’Farrell
St Peter’s School, Clifton
Thu Mar 17, 7-8.30pm
£7 including refreshments
It’s 2022 (doesn’t time fly?) and England’s unbeatable national football team has reached the final of the Qatar World Cup. But one journalist is convinced there’s a scandalous secret behind England’s incredible form.
John O’Farrell discusses his latest book There’s Only Two David Beckhams – A Football Fantasy.
Vince Cable
St Peter’s School, Clifton
Fri Mar 18, 7-8.30pm
£7 including refreshments
York-born Sir Vince Cable, who was at the heart of the coalition government, provides a fascinating insight into the state of UK politics and economics.
His new book, After the Storm, provides a previously unreported inside view of the coalition, and offers a carefully considered perspective on how the British economy should be managed in the future.
Poetry
York Literature Festival / YorkMix Poetry Competition
Black Swan, Peasholme Green
Sat Mar 19, 3.30-5.30pm
Free, no need to book
We don’t usually like to blow our own trumpet but we feel we must give a quick parp to mark the fourth York Literature Festival / YorkMix Poetry Competition which, in just four years, has grown into a major literary event, attracting some of the biggest names in poetry among hundreds of entrants.
Winning and commended poets will be reading their own entries. Judge Carole Bromley will present the winner with the £500 first prize, and will also be reading a selection from her brilliant new collection The Stonegate Devil.
Yorkshire Poetry Special
Black Swan, Peasholme Green
Wed Mar 23, 8-10.30pm
£4 including buffet
Celebrate the end of the 2016 festival with a line-up of spoken word talent compered by poet and comedian Kate Fox.
Among the many poetic performers are Ben Wilkinson, whose collection For Real won the 2014 Poetry Business Competition; Peter Knaggs, editor of Hull poetry journal The Slab; and Helen Mort, described as ‘the new star of British poetry’ by the Daily Telegraph.
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Comedy & Fun
Dave and Miles’ Rumbustuous Book Quiz
City Screen Basement Bar, Coney Street
Wed Mar 16, 8-10pm
£3
Test your knowledge of literature, poetry and everything else comperes Dave Nicholson (of YorkMix fame) and festival director Miles Salter can think of.
The winning team will walk away with £80 worth of book tokens.
Right Here, Write Now
Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate
Fri Mar 11, 7.30-9pm
£5
York’s top improvisers indulge in a mix of ridiculous games and comedic chaos, whipped into shape (we think it’s a rhomboid) by host Paul Birch.
There are games, off-the-cuff silliness and some seriously good laughs. There is, however, no script and no safety net.
Writing Comedy: The Art of Stand-Up
Temple Hall, York St John University
Mon Mar 14, 7-8.30pm
Free
Comedians Sebastian Bloomfield, Richard Massara and Alasdair Beckett-King perform their stand-up then discuss the comedy writing process during a Q&A.
Geeky
York St John Con
Temple Hall, York St John University
Sat Mar 12, 10am-10pm
Free
Enjoy a whole day of full-on geeky fun with comics, video and board games, graphic novels and other sequential art, including talks, workshops and stalls.
Among the highlights are a zine workshop (11am-noon) led by writer, artist and creator CJ (in collaboration with Travelling Man); a video games and story roundtable discussion (2-4pm) led by game designer and novelist Gabrielle Kent and game designer and theatre maker Hannah Nicklin; and a keynote event with illustrator and writer Bryan Talbot and writer and academic Mary Talbot, together acclaimed as ‘true powerhouses of the British graphic novel scene’.
Sci-Fi Workshop
York St John University, Lord Mayor’s Walk
Wednesday March 16, 2-4pm
Free
Join renowned science fiction author Adam Roberts for a writing workshop and discover the secrets of the genre.
Children
Bedtime Story
Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate
Sat Mar 12, 4-4.45pm
£4.50 (accompanying adults free)
Mini Custard children’s theatre tells the tale of Peter, his dog Alaska and their cantankerous travel machine in this interactive story session for 3-6 year olds.
Hoglets
Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate
Sat Mar 12, 10-10.50am
£4.50 (accompanying adults free)
This is an exciting voyage across the seven seas for children aged 2-5 (they’ll be fine with their waterwings on).
Mama Hoglet tells the classic tale The Night Pirates followed by a pirate training course with songs, games, drama and crafts (pirates love a bit of glittering and gluing).
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Tanya Landman
St Peter’s School, Clifton
Mon Mar 14, 6.30-7.30pm
Free
What kind of girl steals the clothes from a dead man’s back and runs off to join the army? A desperate one.
Tanya Landman tells her story in Buffalo Soldier, for which she won the CILIP Carnegie Medal, at an event suitable for school groups and young people aged 14+.
Family Day
York Explore Library, Museum Street
Sun Mar 20, 11am-4pm
£3
Author events celebrate the wealth and breadth of York talent with, among others, illustrators Ros Beardshaw and Sam Zuppardi and ‘The Poetry Bloke’ Craig Bradley.
Getting published
We’re not in Kansas Anymore
King’s Manor, Exhibition Square
Mon Mar 14, 10am-noon
£8
The Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of York hosts a ‘world building’ workshop on how to write scenes, create locations and describe imaginative worlds.
It’s led by creative writing teacher Rob O’Connor.
How Not To Submit Your Manuscript
Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate
Sat Mar 12, noon-2pm
£25
Written a book but not sure how to get it published? Join the queue to pick the brains of leading literary agents Sam Copeland, Sallyanne Sweeney and Jo Unwin.
They’re offering advice on how to put together a well-crafted submission package and how to avoid common mistakes. There’s also a Q&A session.
From Ideas To Publication
Bennett’s Café, High Petergate
Sat Mar 12, 10.30am-noon
Free
York Novelists talk about the methods they’ve developed as a writing critique group, transforming ideas into the printed word, followed by readings and a Q&A.