Expanded arts festival set to bring punk poet John Cooper Clarke to Leeds

Punk performance poet John Cooper Clarke is among the headline acts to perform at the Morley Arts Festival next month.
John Cooper Clarke.John Cooper Clarke.
John Cooper Clarke.

The 11th annual showcase, which was formerly known as Morley Literature Festival, will expand into music, performance and art when it starts on Friday September 23 this year.

The 17-day programme of events will feature 70s poet Cooper Clarke supported by renowned Knottingley spoken word artist Toria Garbutt on September 24.

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Workshops and productions will be hosted across numerous venues, including Morley Town Hall, Central Methodist Church and Morley Library.

Festival director Ella Wild said: “We’re delighted to be bringing leading names from literature and music to Morley.

“With something for everyone – we hope this will be our biggest festival yet.”

Other events will see award-winning poet and author Simon Armitage host talks and writing masterclasses on September 25, watercolour artist Ashley Jackson discuss his paintings of the Yorkshire Moors on September 28 and TV’s Annie Gray offers up afternoon tea and a chocolate-themed lecture to guests on October 2.

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A creative writing workshop inspired by Morley’s Victorian social reformer Alice Cliff Scatcherd will run on October 4 and a Northern Ballet interactive Goldilocks workshop for children aged between 18 months and six years old will also take place on October 8.

The festival will come to a close with a show by Leeds band, The Wedding Present, who were publicly praised by legendary late DJ John Peel, on October 8. They will be supported by the Velveteens.

For further information visit morleyartsfestival.co.uk.

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