That’s a wrap on the 2026 HWPF! Thank you to everyone who was part of making the festival happen, as well as our amazing poets, and everyone who came along as well! Special thanks to Arts Council England and East Riding of Yorkshire Council, without whom the festival couldn’t have taken place.

Lovely day for a poetry festival! Come find us at Bishop Burton Village Hall :)

What could this be? 👀 A sneak peak of this year’s collection, designed by @martinlewsley.bsky.social

Here’s a rough schedule of the events of the festival tomorrow! The poems have been split into 6 periods across the day, separated by breaks where you’ll be able to get tea, coffee, and food across the day. The day is likely to end at around quarter-past 5.

Heres a clip from when festival director Sarah was on Beverley FM back in July. The High Wolds Poetry Festival is this Saturday!! #spokenwordpoetry #performancepoetry #beverley #beverleyeastyorkshire

Catch Sarah on BBC Radio Humberside at 2.15 today, talking about the festival! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Radio Humberside - Listen Live - BBC Sounds

Listen live to Radio Humberside on BBC Sounds

bbc.co.uk

It was great to be at the Bugthorpe Village Festival this Saturday, where festival director Sarah judged a poetry competition! It was amazing to hear poetry celebrating Yorkshire and rural communities, which is what the High Wolds Poetry Festival is all about!

Heres my last conversation/interview with one of our festival poets, this one with first-time contributor to the festival, poet Lois Linkens! #spokenwordpoetry #performancepoetry #spokenwordpoems

One week to go until the High Wolds Poetry Festival, 10-5 on Saturday 26th September at Bishop Burton village hall! We can’t wait to see you all there! #spokenword #spokenwordpoetry #performancepoetry #poetry #spokenwordpoet

Chat with Carrie Hilton! It was great to talk to Carrie about her poetry and her experience of the festival. You can hear more from our wonderful poets at the festival on Saturday 26th September! #spokenwordpoetry #spokenwordpoet #performancepoetry #highwoldspoetryfestival

Conversation with Margaret Tansley about her relationship with poetry and her experience of the festival!

Ian Winter’s top three performance poetry tips! Recorded at last week’s spoken word workshop. #spokenwordpoetry #spokenwordpoet #spokenword #performancepoetry #performancepoet

Talking to Chris Sewart, longtime festival poet but first-time festival attendee! It was great to talk to Chris about his approach to poetry, his experience of the HWPF workshops, and more.

Interview with David Wilberforce, poet and regular contributor to the festival. How do you approach writing poetry?

Some photos from Tuesday’s spoken word workshop with Ian Winter, featuring some poetry from our amazing festival poets!

Another team member introduction! Meet Maddison!

Meet Sarah, director of the 2026 High Wolds Poetry Festival!

The first of a few posts introducing you to the team, starting with me- Tom!

We’ve run out of spaces for this event, but keep an eye on our page for more information and updates :)

High Wolds Poetry Festival@highwoldspoetry.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We're delighted to announce our spoken word workshop with acclaimed poet and comedian Ian Winter! This is the perfect session for any poets who aim to take to the stage at the Festival in September and would like some top tips reading aloud.

We're delighted to announce our spoken word workshop with acclaimed poet and comedian Ian Winter! This is the perfect session for any poets who aim to take to the stage at the Festival in September and would like some top tips reading aloud.

Catch Sarah on Beverley FM this morning at 11.15 to hear a bit about the festival!

Submissions are now closed! Over the next few weeks we’ll be reviewing every poem we received, and while we won’t be able to include all of them in the final collection we will be in contact with everyone who submitted. Thank you for all your creativity, and see you at the festival!

The deadline to send us your poetry for inclusion in the 2026 HWPF collection is midnight today tonight! Send your poems to highwoldspoetry@gmail.com now! #poetry #poetrysubmissions #eastyorkshire #yorkshirewolds #highwoldspoetryfestival

Thought we’d share a spoken word poem, since this is a festival for spoken word poetry! Also very excited to finally introduce myself properly. This is ‘The Witchling’ by Sue Birch.

Only 2 days left to submit to this year’s collection! Email us your poems at highwoldspoetry@gmail.com! #poetry #poetrycompetition #highwoldspoetryfestival

Another brilliant poem from the 2024 collection! ‘Retirement Project’ by Judy Smith #poem #poetry #yorkshire #retirement #highwoldspoetryfestival

‘From the Lure’, another from the 2024 collection, has really interesting structure and can be read in two different orders. It could be interesting to explore similar structure in your own poetry for this year’s collection. By Daniel Gustafsson. #poetry #poetryimspiration #yorkshire

This week we’re sharing some more poems from past collections, this time from the 2024 book themed ‘Wealth and Work’. This saw lots of interesting critiques of the corporate world, alongside the nature of work and retirement. Here’s ‘Ars Moriendi for a Working Man’ by David Wilberforce.

Only one week to go until our submissions deadline on Saturday 15th August! Email highwoldspoetry@gmail.com with your finished poems and any questions you have. Check out our profile for more information and inspiration for your writing!

A really powerful poem from the High Wolds Poetry collection 2020. ‘The Red Lipstick’ by Toni Schultz.