Leeds Lit Fest is back! Returning for its seventh year, the city’s award-winning festival of words and thought will take place across a diverse range of the city’s spaces and aims to bring together, and help develop, the city’s literary scene, with writers, poets and performers from the UK and beyond. 

Leeds Lit Fest is delivered by Leeds-based creative arts and literature organisations which are committed to celebrating and championing literature and writing in Leeds and to engaging and inspiring its people to get involved in creative activities linked to literature. 

It was founded in 2018 and delivered its first festival in 2019 but its origins stem back more than a decade. It was born out of discussions, literature events and smaller literature festivals like the Leeds Big Bookend. The goal was always to right the very big gap that existed – that Leeds had never had a Lit Fest – and to try and create one that had a sustainable future. 

We were all driven by the idea that collectively we could help shine a light on what’s going on in the city related to literature, poetry and all things bookish. Also, along with music and the visual arts, we discussed how the Leeds Lit Fest could occupy more space in the city’s cultural scene and engage with diverse and marginalised audiences of all ages.

Current partner organisations include Hyde Park Book Club, The Leeds Big Bookend and Northern Short Story Festival, Leeds Church Institute, MILIM, Leeds International African Arts Festival, Chapel FM, Leeds Libraries and The Grammar School at Leeds.

In 2024 we became a CIC. The Board comprises: Jack Simpson (Hyde Park Book Club); Fiona Gell (The Leeds Big Bookend); Bronagh Daly (Leeds Church Institute); Ian Harker and Alan Benstock (MILIM).

Follow us on:

• Instagram: @leeds_lit_fest 
• Facebook: @LeedsLitFest
• X: @LeedsLit
• Bluesky: @leedslitfest.bsky.social
• #LLF25

In 2022 and 2020, Leeds Lit Fest won Best Literary Festival at the national Saboteur Awards after being shortlisted in 2019. The festival celebrates the vibrant and thriving literature scene that exists in Leeds with local writers and performers showcasing their talents along with national and international artists with an exciting programme of author talks, workshops, panels, performance, digital, poetry and spoken word events.