SPECIAL guest at the next Cellar Bards spoken word event in Cardigan will be Lampeter-based poet Martin Locock, who will be reading from his latest collection, Margin of Hope.

Martin has been writing poetry for many years, and has developed a characteristic style of precise observation, clearly expressed. His previous collections are Carefully Chosen Words, Removals and The Thought of Fresh Rain.

He also edited the anthology Poetry from Strata Florida, arising from his work on the monastic landscape of the Cistercian Abbey. He has published two collections of haiku, Travels with a Notebook and Bright Silence: A month in haiku, and has taught managers to use the form as a reflective practice (The Flow of Thought).

He is a member of Lampeter Writers and the Red Heron performance group and runs the Spoken Word Wales website and records interviews with performers and writers for the Spoken Word Wales podcast.

The Cellar Bards event featuring Martin Locock is on Friday, April 28, in the Castle Café Cellar Bar, Cardigan. Doors and the bar open at 7.30pm, the event starts at 8pm. Entry is £3.

Open mic spots are available for writers of poetry, short stories, micro-fiction and novels (maximum five minutes each). People who want to read just need to put their names down at the door. Or go along to listen to Martin Locock plus a great variety of spoken word performances.

Cellar Bards compere, poet Dave Urwin, said: “It’s great to have Martin back to read from his latest collection and it is always a pleasure to listen to the work of our talented local writers on the open mic.

“All are made welcome and as always we provide the opportunity for writers of all ages and styles to come and read or perform in a friendly and relaxed environment. We are not exclusively spoken word either, as there is always room for a song or two as well.”