** NEW READINGS IN MARCH **

Not sure whether live poetry is your thing? Try it - it will be. All my events are user-friendly. Spring 2008 sees lots of readings from my new book, workshops to enliven your writing, and events to enjoy. Workshops are marked *.

Tuesday 26th February - Superheroes of Slam, a Commonword event with Jo Bell and Segun Lee French. At Alsager Arts Centre, Stoke on Trent. Never heard of competitive poetry? You haven't lived. Join us for a fast, furious and user-friendly contest. Each poet speaks for 3 minutes and you, the audience, judge who is the superstar. Click here for more info and to book tickets.

Thursday 6th March - Book launch at Ellesmere Port Boat Museum for  my new collection of poetry. Please come along and join the celebration! All welcome: get a free invitation by emailing anne.sherman@cheshire.gov.uk (just so we know how many to expect).

Friday 7th March - Book launch in Derby at Banks' Mill Studios, 71 Bridge Street. Why deny those on the eastern side of the Pennines a chance to buy  Navigation? Celebrate my first full-length collection and have a glass of wine. 6.00pm start so we can all go to the pub afterwards.... FREE, but bring £8 because you'll really want to buy a book.

Friday 14th March - Reading in Reading at the Poetry Cafe, South Street Arts Centre. Jo joins host AF Harrold, the funniest poet in a bowler hat, to read from Navigation and other work.

Wednesday 19th March - Reading in Chester Library of poems including many from my new book. 7-9pm. £4 to library members, £5 if not. Call 01244 312935 and bring £8 if you think you might want a signed copy...

Thursday 27th March - Reading in Liverpool at the Poetry Cafe, Costa Coffee. More details soon but it's an evening event. Join us to hear poems from the new book and a few others too....

Monday 7th April - Rhymetime at Macclesfield Library, 4-5pm. Jo ventures into the children's corner of the library to share some favourite poems and get youngsters thinking in Petrarchan sonnets - or at least in rhyme! Free.

Thursday 17th April - Reading at Mid-Cheshire College, Hartford. 7-9pm. Join us to hear new poems at this FREE reading which should be well attended. More details in March.

Thursday 23rd April - By George! An English Feast at Allseasons, Macclesfield. A fantastic St George's day menu of top-notch English food from talented chef Adam Evanson, with a few delicious surprises. Accompanied by light-hearted and appetising readings from Jo Bell, and English music from Vaughan Williams to bhangra. There are only 30 places and this one will sell out, so buy tickets as soon as you can - £15 from Allseasons, 01625 421685 or at www.allseasonsdeli.com

Friday 23rd May - Lifemarks: poetry about the big events of life. Join Jo at Macclesfield Library for an evening of uplifting, thought-provoking and moving poems about the landmarks in our lives; from birth to telling your boss to get lost, and all things in between. Tickets from Macclesfield Library on 01625 422512 - and bring £7 if you want a copy of the anthology which includes many poems on this theme.

* Monday 26th May - Narrowboat workshop, Birmingham. Why waste your bank holiday on the motorway when you could spend it on the canal writing poetry? Jo Bell (narrowboater and author of Navigation) and skipper Peter Baldwin invite you to join us on working boat Saltaire in central Birmingham. We travel by water to parts of the city that are usually invisible, and use them as a starting point for a workshop to create new poetry. Bring a woolly jumper and a cushion! Booking details coming up soon.

* Sunday 1st June - Watermarks I: A walking workshop at Masson Mill, Derbyshire. Jo (a former industrial archaeologist) leads a guided walk around High Peak canal junction. After a pause to eat our marmalade sandwiches we will write about the landscapes you've just seen, and those you know from elsewhere. Contact alison.betteridge@derbyshire.gov.uk or call 01773 831359 for tickets @ £17 and further details.

* Sunday 8th June - Watermarks II: A walking workshop at Linacre Reservoir and Newbold Library, Derbyshire. A second workshop for Derbyshire Literature Festival. Jo leads a guided walk around Linacre Reservoir; after a short sandwich break we will write new poetry about the landscapes and history we've just seen. Contact/ booking details as for 1 June, above.

* Saturday 14th June - Written on the Water. Two poets lead a writing session on and around watery landscapes. Kate Noakes, winner of the 2007 Cheshire Poet Laureate's Waterways competition and author of Ocean to Interior, teams up with Jo Bell to deliver a workshop which will give you new ideas and tease out new work. Booking details coming soon.

Friday 20th June - Reading at Manky Poets, Manchester. Jo reads from Navigation and other work, amongst the North West's finest. Cheap and exceedingly cheerful at £2, but bring £8 to buy a book of course... 7.30pm for 8.00 start at Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, Chorlton M21 9PN.

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June - Open Studios at Banks' Mill, Derby. Come and see our fantastic studios where jewellers, graphic designers, painters and textile artists cohabit peacefully in this former mill on Bridge Street. All welcome - see our work and you might want to buy some examples.

Friday 4th July - Sunday 13th July - Ledbury Poetry Festival, Herefordshire. The UK's biggest and best, with a host of great names and interesting events.

* Sunday 27th July - Out of the Woodwork, Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire. A workshop drawing on the fantastic timbered architecture of Little Moreton Hall, below. We use its history and our own impressions of timber and wood, to create new poems. Call 01260 272018 to book a place @ £15.

Thursday 2nd September - In the Mood for Food at Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire (above). Step into this incredible half-timbered Tudor house on a summer's evening, for a feast of English food and readings about all things edible. Call 01260 272018 for information or to book.

Coming up.... more readings from Navigation.... a performance with John Lindley in Buxton.... possible news of events at Ness Botanic Gardens....