Now in its fourth year the festival has a growing worldwide reputation, particularly in promoting contemporary poetry. Amongst the artists taking part is George Szirtes, the winner of the T.S. Eliot prize for poetry in addition another award winning poet Pascale Petit will read from her own work. Pascale Petit was born in Paris and grew up in France and Wales. She trained as a sculptor at the Royal College of Art, has travelled extensively in the Venezuelan Amazon and is poetry editor of Poetry London. She was short-listed for a Forward Best Single Poem Prize in 2000, and in 2001 received a New London Writers’ Award and an Arts Council of England Writers’ Award. Her second collection, The Zoo Father, was shortlisted for the 2001 T.S.Eliot Prize. It's the connection between poetry and sculputre which has attracted her interest to the festival. One of the highlights is the performance of four specially commissioned poems celebrating Beverley’s medieval sculpture and the craftsmen who carved it. Indeed Pascale was drawn to Beverley because of the connection between sculpture and the town of Beverley. Other authors attending the ten day long festival cover the range of literature from fiction to classical history. As well as readings many of the writers will give talks on their own and others work. The festival takes place in a variety of venues across the town. For more information contact the festival box office on 01482 391672 | 
