City’s authors have the write stuff to star in new exhibition

Objects on display include a wine bottle from the set of celebrated bucolic British crime drama Midsomer Murders, on loan from screenwriter and playwright Lisa Holdsworth, who has also worked on hit shows including Call the Midwife and Fat Friends.

Her contributions also include original scripts from her first paid writing job, signed by Liza Tarbuck and famed presenting duo Ant and Dec.

Other exhibits include a dress created as part of theatre show and exhibition Corseted, which centred around the life and work of radical Leeds suffragist Alice Cliff Scatcherd.

The dress is based on one worn by Alice when she opened the Morley Friends Adult School in 1894, and sits alongside objects chosen by writer and performer, Becky Cherriman, whose own work touches on themes such as women’s history and industrial working conditions.

Also on display is an ancient Greek coin featuring a fearsome snake-headed Gorgon, chosen by author Jennifer Saint whose books, including Ariadne, are inspired by Greek mythology.

Leeds author Chris Nickson chose a model of the Moot Hall, formerly on Briggate, which features in his novel Them Without Pain exploring the story of ill-fated Leeds silversmith Arthur Mangey. Mangey created the Leeds Mace but was executed in 1696 after he was found guilty of forgery.

Alongside work by poet Claire Wigzell are a series of Cistercian floor tiles and a stylus excavated from the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey, which is the subject of one of her poems.

And poet Khadijah Ibrahiim has loaned items reflecting her writing process and professional achievements including laptops, ipods and flyers for events including Rootz Runnin and Leeds Young Authors poetry slams.

Library tickets, ink pots, writing implements and a typewriter used by Yorkshire Post sports journalist John Wyatt also feature in the exhibition, which is made up of loans from contributing authors alongside objects taken from the Leeds Museums and Galleries collection which have specific connections to their works.

Patrick Bourne, assistant community curator with Leeds Museums and Galleries said: “Leeds is home to so many talented writers who have made major and lasting contributions to all manner of fields from literature to theatre, TV and film.

“But there’s perhaps something in the nature of many writers which means they often do their work behind-the-scenes and let others take the spotlight.

“That’s why we’re so pleased to be celebrating the efforts of all these imaginative, local people and to be giving visitors a chance to find out more about their work, the process behind it and some of the inspiration for the incredible stories and narratives they have created.”

Opened in 1927, Abbey House Museum is home to three replica Victorian streets, which feature shops, a pub, and houses. The museum building itself is Kirkstall Abbey’s original gatehouse.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “Leeds has its own unique and rich literary history, with the city itself being the inspiration for many esteemed literary works as well as the home to numerous notable literary figures.

“It’s wonderful to see this celebration of local literally talent which captures how our city has made its mark on the world of storytelling and writing in its own way.”

Literature in Leeds: Prose, Poetry and Plays is open now at Abbey House Museum.

For more details, please visit: Literature in Leeds: Prose, Poetry and Plays | Leeds Museums and Galleries | Days out and exhibitions

ENDS