Word perfect!

Mention Ilkley to a complete stranger and they will probably be able to mumble a line or two of On Ilkla Moor Baht 'At.

They might even have heard of its famous Betty's tea rooms or know of the Cow and Calf Rocks.

But few would characterise the town as a literary hotbed.

And yet this weekend sees the launch of an event which will be one of the most prestigious of its kind to be held in Britain this year.

The Ilkley Literature Festival marks its 25th anniversary this year - and 1998 has been turned into the Ilkley 25, a jamboree celebrating both the famous names who have taken part in the past and some of the literary stars of tomorrow.

And when you consider the diversity of those lined up for the silver jubilee, it's no wonder that Ilkley now considers itself a serious rival to established national literature festivals like Cheltenham and Hay-on-Wye.

Controversial Leeds poet Tony Harrison, veteran left-wing politician and writer Tony Benn and actress Mina Anwar - best known as WPC Habib in the BBC sitcom The Thin Blue Line - are just a few of the biggest attractions of a year-long programme of events, which is being staged instead of the mini-festivals which are usually held three times a year.

Festival director David Porter said: "It is a fantastic achievement for a small Yorkshire Dales town to host one of the most prestigious literary events in the country.

"Famous names from Auden to Zephaniah have appeared at the festival over the years and we want to mark this achievement with a special programme."

But it's not just about famous names.

The festival also won more than £80,000 in Lottery money for its celebration year which is going towards a programme of youth outreach work called Beyond The Ilkley 25, an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of festival-goers.

A series of special awards will also be made during the festival's anniversary year for novels, poems and short stories with the aim of encouraging new, young writers.

"One aim for this special year is to mark the successes of the last 25 years," said Mr Porter.

"However, we hope that as the year goes on we start to attract a younger audience for our work, an audience that we hope will keep us going for the next 25."

One man who is heavily involved in that initiative is former Telegraph & Argus journalist Martyn Bedford.

He is now a full-time novelist after hitting the headlines by landing a £100,000 two-book deal with Transworld, unprecedented for a previously unpublished writer.

Bedford, who lives in Ilkley, will have his finger in many pies during the festival's 25th anniversary celebrations.

As well as being a member of the festival's board of directors, he is currently running journalism workshops for school pupils and helping to judge the festival's competition for new novelists.

And he will also be taking part in an event at the Craiglands Hotel in Ilkley on April 4 called Tomorrow's World, an evening of readings, discussions, poetry, prose and music which coincides with the publication of the paperback version of his second novel Exit Orange and Red.

But although Bedford enthuses about the work of the festival, he acknowledges not everyone in Ilkley embraces the event's progressive outlook.

"There is still an element in Ilkley that feels the festival should be less young and hip than it is," he said.

Equally, there have been dark mutterings from some quarters about the fact that not all the festival's events are being staged in Ilkley itself. About 80 per cent of its visitors come to the festival from outside the town, and it has spread its wings in recent years to stage readings and other performances in nearby Keighley, Haworth and Bradford.

The festival has also linked up with Waterstones bookshop in the Wool Exchange in Bradford to co-promote events, including a reading by the respected novelist Beryl Bainbridge on April 30.

"There are people in the town who have a traditional, staid view and don't like the fact that there are events happening in Leeds, or Skipton or wherever," said Bedford.

"If Ilkley is going to compete with festivals like Hay and Cheltenham it can't afford to have a small town outlook. It needs to make use of places like Haworth, Leeds and Bradford.

"The way the festival is run at the moment, I think we seem to have got the balance just right. They have still got traditional events which appeal to a more conservative audience and they also manage to mix it with stuff that appeals to more up-and-coming people.

"It's important to celebrate what has been achieved in the past but you have also got to expose audiences to new writing or you will only ever end up reading books that were written by people who have been dead for 100 years."

The festival has recently appointed 23-year-old Amy Young as its outreach and marketing co-ordinator, and it is her job to help improve the accessibility of literature to young people.

Projects include PopTV, which will involve pop video artists and performance poets such as Atomic Lip; a new visual arts magazine launched in conjunction with Cartwright Hall in Bradford and Leeds City Art Gallery and written by school pupils from Leeds, Bradford and Ilkley, and a fashion week combining young people's journalism and designing skills.

"The outreach venture, while recognising and building upon the achievements of the past 25 years, aims to encourage fresh talent - the writers of the future - so that we can look forward to another successful 25 years," said Amy.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.