Adam Hart Davis said of the festival: “You provided the best audience I had all week; they asked the most difficult questions, and they bought the most books. And what a wonderful venue.” What fantastic feedback -  we’re going to do our best to make 2012 another festival to remember!

We can now confirm that this year’s festival will take place from 6th-14th October 2012.

We’re now busy programming this year’s event, which, as well as including author talks, panels, workshops and children’s events, will hold some special surprises!  We’re very excited to have received a funding award from Leeds Inspired to develop new work around the theme of playfulness so watch this space – more details coming soon…

Home Is Where the Art Is saw four Morley households and 3 local primary schools borrow original works of art from Leeds Art Gallery to mount in their own homes and classrooms.  Andrew and Paul’s work was created in response to the scheme.  The artworks were mounted in exhibition as part of Morley Literature Festival 2011 and in Leeds Central Library at the start of 2012.

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You can also order a paperbook version via Lulu.

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The saucy tale is set in Leeds and features an alpha male lead character called Nate Rothwell, a fictitious wealthy property developer from Bramhope, who falls for a young beautiful woman called Victoria Quartermain who works for a local youth theatre group.

The book was written collaboratively by 7 writers from Leeds and Bradford under the pseudonym Adele Morley during 2011.

The six women and one man, who barely knew each other at the start of the project, held a series of clandestine meetings to agree the main characters and plot – which is predominantly set in and around Leeds and West Yorkshire – before dividing up the ten chapters amongst themselves.

The six women and one man, who barely knew each other at the start of the project, held a series of clandestine meetings to agree the main characters and plot – which is predominantly set in and around Leeds and West Yorkshire – before dividing up the ten chapters amongst themselves.

Each chapter was then written in isolation, with the entire collaboration only coming together at the very end of the editing process.

The saucy tale is set in Leeds and features an alpha male lead character called Nate Rothwell, a fictitious wealthy property developer from Bramhope, who falls for a young beautiful woman called Victoria Quartermain who works for a local youth theatre group.

The novel was inspired by the writers’ love for Mills & Boon, and written in the style of a classic romance novel, with chance encounters, steamy love scenes, plenty of misunderstandings, and of course, a fairy tale happy ending.

The 50,000 word book will be available as a download and will be launched at our Mills & Boon celebration cabaret evening on Saturday 15th October.

Are you interested in gaining a better understanding of how to develop and deliver community writing projects?  You don’t have to be a writer yourself – perhaps you’re just interested in people and places.

Ideally you will be confident in using simple audio / video equipment (e.g. taking pictures and video, basic editing) and how to upload and format content online. For more information please take a look at the Now Then volunteer_job_description

Did you know that you can also borrow work from Leeds Art Gallery to display in your own home for a modest monthly fee?  Visit the Picture Lending Scheme site for more details.

Writer Emma Adams will be working with various communities in Morley during the festival to help build an archive of what Morley has been, what it is now and where it’s going in the future.

Emma will be based in Morley’s Indoor Market on Friday 7 October from 12.30—3.30pm so if you are interested in finding out more about the project or telling your own stories of Morley then do come along to meet her.

You’ll also be able to contribute your own creative work – sound files, video, pictures and text – via the website www.nowthenmorley.co.uk in just a few weeks time.

The project will see you working with a mentor (local fashion blogger Elly Snare) to create print, audio and/or video stories about Leeds fashion, including the White Rose design competition for young people. Your fashion stories will appear on the Breeze, White Rose and Morley Literature Festival websites, plus in the local media.

The project includes 3 free group workshops in which you’ll learn some of the journalistic skills needed to create great news stories: copy writing, finding and researching a story, editing, live reporting and audio/video skills. You’ll also get the chance to meet and talk to professional journalists and PR companies about your work. This is an ideal opportunity for budding bloggers or fashion journalists to get some real-life experience and learn about what it takes to create exciting, interesting stories about the world of fashion.

For more details on how to apply email info [@] morleyliteraturefestival.co.uk

Closing Date for applications: Extended to Friday 7th July