The High Wolds Poetry Festival, to be held at Kilham Village Hall on Saturday 27 September, is calling for submissions, with this year’s theme being ‘connections’.
For the first time, the festival will be held in Kilham, after being held in North Dalton in previous years. The roving festival will now rotate across Wolds villages in upcoming years, bringing poetry to a range of locations.
The festival will be held from 11am to 6pm, in Kilham, and is free to attend. The theme for 2025 is ‘connections,’ and poem entries, of any number or length, on any theme can be submitted until midnight Friday 15 August. Entries are welcome for festival reading slots and poetry book submissions.
A selection of work submitted will be published in a unique, free, custom designed book and there will be live music, art displays and home-made locally sourced food and drink available throughout the day.
The festival is open to poets of any ability or experience. Poets or all ages and background are welcomed to read or listen on the day, and submit poems of any content, form, tone, style, inspired by the Yorkshire Wolds or by poets’ experiences in general.
In the run up to the festival, the team are hosting free writing workshops, to help residents produce work to be submitted to the festival.
Sarah Mills, festival coordinator, said, “The workshops are a really vital part of the High Wolds Poetry Festival offering: they allow people to come together in a smaller setting and be inspired by different links to the festival theme.
“Our first at Millington was very successful and helped to build writers’ confidence focused on connections to the land, including the term ‘gait’, the geographical lie of the land as well as local stories and anecdotes about the area which always helps to bring stories alive.”
The workshops will be held at Champney Treasure House in Beverley on Saturday 14 June, and at North Newbald village hall on Tuesday 22 July.
The Beverley workshop will look at artefacts from the East Riding Museums and the Yorkshire Wolds as well as the exhibition on the High Wolds Poetry Festival on display at the Treasure House. Attendees will tour the space with Caroline Coath, Assistant Curator of East Riding Museums, collecting inspiration ready to be crafted into poetry.
Councillor Nick Coultish, East Riding of Yorkshire Council cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism said, “It’s great to see the High Wolds Poetry festival return, enhancing the cultural life of the East Riding and bringing poetry into local communities. We recommend everyone get involved and attend the workshops and festival.”
Submissions for consideration for inclusion in the festival book are free and close at midnight on Friday, 15 August. They can be sent by email to highwoldspoetry@gmail.com or by post to The Festival Director, The High Wolds Poetry Festival, East Riding Museums, Treasure House, Champney Road, Beverley HU17 8HE.
Entries for poets’ reading slots close at midnight Friday 26 September
