English Teacher won the Mercury prize, Amy Gledhill won the Edinburgh comedy award – and now even Beyoncé wants a piece of the action. Why has ‘God’s own county’ become such an artistic force?

‘Some people think Yorkshire’s all cobbled streets and whippets,” says musician Corinne Bailey Rae, who was born, educated and lives in God’s own country. “It’s so condescending when people ask me, ‘Why do you still live in Leeds?’ It’s a really exciting city to be part of.”

Never mind “that London” – the northern region synonymous with rolling dales, puddings for roasts and a fine brew is undergoing a cultural renaissance. Three Yorkshire acts were on September’s Mercury music prize shortlist: Rae, Bradford’s Nia Archives (born Dehaney Nia Lishahn Hunt) and Leeds-based winners English Teacher, the first non-London-based band to win it in a decade. Hull comic Amy Gledhill and Huddersfield-born Joe Kent-Walters won best comedy show and best newcomer respectively at Edinburgh. Sheffield author Catherine Taylor recently picked up the TLS Ackerley prize for her South Yorkshire memoir The Stirrings. Tom Cruise has been filming in North Yorkshire, Shane Meadows in “Happy Valley” Calderdale and York Britpop veterans Shed Seven recently notched up a second No 1 album this year.