THE second day of the Huddersfield Literature Festival brought together newly recognised novelists, local poets from Huddersfield and Bradford and a memorable performance from Alexei Sayle on his new book ‘Stalin Ate My Homework’.

The first event of day two, held at the Peacock Lounge was the Bluemoose Showcase presented by Kevin Duffy, the creator of the Bluemoose independent publishing company based in Hebden Bridge. The two authors showcased included Stephen Clayton, the author of ‘The art of being dead’ and Anna Chilvers the author of ‘Falling through clouds’. More information about their books can be found at www.bluemoosebooks.com.

After the above we then moved on to the Media Centre for the Regional voices performance where Nina Boyd, Jim Greenhalf and Milner Place all gave readings from their collections of poems. Laughs were had by all when Nina spoke of her days of a nurse and the things she had to do which I will leave to your imagination.

Alexei Sayle’s performance filled the room with laughter and applause. He commented that he ‘had never had such an intelligent audience and such intelligent questions asked’, challenging his political views rather than asking about his days in the ‘Young Ones’. Audience comments included ‘a very entertaining performance’ and ‘a memorable performance’. After Alexei’s performance he joined the festival director at the Dogma bar for a few drinks before he was taken back to the Hotel in style, in a Daewoo Matiz.