Midsummer Weird

Join us for a day of strange stories, readings, conversations and interactive fun with panels of authors and experts in everything weird and wonderful. Doors at 1pm.

Opportunities to buy authors’ books and have them signed
Food will be available to purchase at the event

Featuring: Andrew Michael Hurley, Bronte Schiltz, Catriona Ward, Ceri Houlbrook, Elizabeth Dearnley, Hwaet Zine, Jeremy Dyson, Lucie McKnight Hardy, Mark Morris, Matthew Bellwood, Michael Stewart, Sacha Coward and Toby Hadoke… with more names to be announced.

*The day is set to include:

From 1pm: Hwæt! Present the FOLKLORE FUNFAIR
Ancient fun for modern folks! The creators of the Hwæt! Zine present an immersive set of custom-made games inspired by the myths, legends and folklore of the British Isles, featuring the Hook-A-Hag Stone, The Zodiac Wheel of Fortune and many more.

2pm – 2.30pm: TBC

2.30pm – 3.30pm: Weird Fiction: Michael Stewart In Conversation with Catriona Ward, Lucie McKnight Hardy & Bronte Schiltz
Step into the captivating world of weird fiction with Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of the dark, disturbing and quietly devasting Night Babies. She will be joined by Catriona Ward, author of Nowhere Burning and one of the leading exponents of that literary genre where Gothic meets thriller. Also on the panel is PhD candidate for Gothic Studies, Bronte Schiltz, whose work includes creative non-fiction, short fiction, poetry and theatre. She has contributed to the new Comma Press short story anthology, Monster Capital: Tales of Modern Unease. Chairing the panel will be the multi-award winning author of Black Wood Women and champion of all things gothic, Michael Stewart.

4pm – 5pm: Folklore: In Conversation with Sacha Coward and Ceri Houlbrook
Sacha Coward, author of Queer as Folkore and Dr Ceri Houlbrook, Lecturer in History and Folklore and writer of folklore-inspired fiction, join us for a gripping guide to the weird yet everyday world of British folklore. It’s set to be a fascinating journey through the many forms of folklore, from village rituals to fairytales, to the hidden queer history of myths and monsters.

6pm – 7pm: Quatermass and the Televisual Gothic
Explore the huge cultural impact of landmark British sci-fi fiction serial, The Quatermass Experiment, first shown by the BBC in 1953. Unleashed in the wake of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Nigel Kneale’s innovative series captivated the burgeoning television audience with high quality, suspenseful science fiction that influenced decades of gothic film and TV. The panel will feature stand-up comedian Toby Hadoke, who recently published a book on The Quatermass Experiment, and Bronte Schiltz, writer and journalist who contributed to re-releases of the film versions of the first two Quatermass stories.

7.30pm – 8.30pm: Tales of the Weird: Haunted Yorkshire: A British Library Panel
Tales of the Weird is a British Library series where the gothic and supernatural meet, featuring stories that move between the eerie and the unexpected. Editor of new instalment, Haunted Yorkshire, Elizabeth Dearnley, will be joined by contributors Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen), Andrew Michael Hurley (the celebrated author of British folk horror) and Mark Morris, to discuss the collection of chilling tales exploring Yorkshire’s uniquely haunting influence on horror literature.

9pm – 10pm: Ghost Stories with Matthew Bellwood
Leeds-based theatre-maker, storyteller and creator of 365 Leeds Stories, a project that map’s people’s thoughts and experiences of living in Leeds, Matthew Bellwood, will perform the classic tale The Night Wire by HF Arnold. We will also hear true tales of local Weird, including Mary Bateman, The Yorkshire Witch, and The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace, a murderer said to haunt the cells of Leeds Town Hall.

*Line-ups are subject to change without notice