The first of seven specially engraved ‘Stanza Stones’, which feature new poems written by leading UK poet Simon Armitage has been completed on Pule Hill, above Marsden, by stone artist Pip Hall. ‘Stanza Stones’ is an imaginative new project from Ilkley Literature Festival, Pennine Prospects and Imove, the Legacy Trust UK’s cultural programme for Yorkshire in the lead-up to the London 2012 Games.

The sequence of seven poems will be inscribed on seven ‘Stanza Stones’ across the Watershed Landscape, which runs from Armitage’s home town of Marsden to Ilkley’s famous moor. All seven stones will be in place in the landscape by the end of May 2012.

A response to the wild and rugged landscape of the Pennine Watershed and the relationship between the landscape and rich language of Yorkshire, Armitage’s poems have also been acting as inspiration for six groups of young writers aged from 12-25 years from both rural areas and the cities of West and South Yorkshire.  Since November 2010, with support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, young people from Calderdale Young Writers, Ilkley Young Writers, Leeds Young Authors, Sheffield Young Writers, Tadeeb International New Writers and The Writing Squad have been taking part in workshops, including some with Simon Armitage out on the Moors.  This has resulted in new work inspired by the landscape and the differences between city and countryside, some of which can be read on the Ilkley Literature Festival website.

Rachel Feldberg, Director of Ilkley Literature Festival stated: “We are all very excited to see the first poem make its mark and extremely grateful to the National Trust who gave permission for the Pule Hill site and have been so positive about the project.  The first stone is already attracting lots of attention from local walkers and climbers, one curious visitor even dropped in after seeing it from the air while para-gliding over the area.  We hope that people throughout the region will be inspired to go and find these unique stones as they appear across the Pennines over the next 11 months and we’re longing to hear their responses via our website and facebook pages.”

Members of the public will be able to find the locations of the stones and follow the project on the Festival website www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/stanza-stones  Facebook (Ilkley Literature) and Twitter (@ilkleylitfest)