WRITERS are being urged to take part in the fast-approaching University of Huddersfield Literature Festival.

People of all ages and abilities are being sought to take part in the Creative Writing Competition at the festival which runs from March 7 to 16.

To enter, writers must download a photograph from the competition website at www.litfest.org.uk/ competition.htm and use it as a starting point for their creative writing piece. The photographs have been taken by Amanda Crowther.

Entries should be either a poem of up to 40 lines; a short story – or extract of a longer piece – up to 2,000 words; a set of spoken word or rap lyrics of up to 40 lines, which can be on CD or minidisc; a song of up to 40 lines on CD or minidisc or a script, with a maximum length of one A4 page.

The written pieces can be about any subject, as long as they connect to the photograph. Entries cost £3, £2 for families or groups or free for children. Names, addresses, contact numbers, e-mail addresses and the category entered must be written on the entries which need to be submitted by March 1.

The competition is linked to a new stage production, called Beast Market, which tells the stories of Huddersfield people in their own words.

It is being showcased as part of the festival by the Huddersfield-based Chol Theatre group and combines story-telling, images, movement and music.

The festival, sponsored by Borders Books of Birstall, is back for its third year running and will be celebrating established authors alongside exciting new writers, poets, playwrights and musicians.

Rommi Smith, festival coordinator said: “There really is something for everyone in this year’s festival.ŠWe want to reach book groups and budding authors, including children, families, teenagers and adults. We look forward to welcoming everyone at this year’s festival.”

It will be launched on March 7 by crime-writer Ann Cleeves, who lived in Shelley until recently. She is a successful author, having won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger – the biggest crime fiction award in the world. She will give a reading from her new novel, White Nights.

Events over the 10-day festival will include readings, theatre performances, writing workshops, open-mic slots and competitions.

Festival patron and Almondbury writer Joanne Harris – author of the award-winning Chocolat – will talk about her life and work and Doreen Lawrence will talk about her memoirs, And Still I Rise, about the impact of the murder of her son Stephen.

Appearing alongside her will be Kester Aspden, author of Nationality: Wog, a brutal account of the life and death of Nigerian man David Oluwale, whose body was pulled out of the River Aire in Leeds after being racially abused.

Hollywood star Patrick Stewart, who was born in Mirfield and is chancellor of the university, is also a patron of the festival.

He said: “As an actor, words are the backbone of my life. Therefore it is my absolute pleasure to be asked to be a patron for the University of Huddersfield Literature Festival. It’s fitting that the place described as ‘the poetry capital of the North’ finally has its own literature festival. This emerging and dynamic festival is dedicated to celebrating the power of words, wherever we may find them.”

Drama at the festival will include a first showing of The River, a brand new piece of performance by four HuddersfieldŠUniversity students.ŠMusicians Camilo Tirado and Graham Garside, performer and musician Eilon Morris and writer, David Lawton fuse music, text and performance, in an intimate exploration of what it means to be free.

For more information contact Rommi Smith, festival coordinator, on 01484 471895, or visit www.litfest.org.uk.