‘Common People’ (a collection of essays, poems and memoir written by working-class writers). Emma Purshouse and other anthology contributors will be discussing their stories and what it means to be a working-class writer).

A Birmingham Literature Festival event. Thursday October 10th, 6-7pm in the Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT.

Tickets £10/£8. birminghamliteraturefestival.org

‘Floating Poetry’ Wildside Activity Centre are working with the Literature Festival to offer a boat trip with performance poet Emma Purshouse from 11am to 3pm.

See the Smestow Valley in autumn and write your own poems. Cost £12 per person plus booking fee. Age 14 plus.

Light refreshments available but guests need to bring a picnic lunch. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster only (search for Floating Poetry on Ticketmaster).

Saturday October 12th, Wildside Activity Centre, Hordern Road, Wolverhampton WV6 0HA.

‘Country Voices’ with Kenton Samuels, Chris Kinsey & the launch of Ripening Cherries, an anthology of ‘Japanese’ poetry, at the Meadow Inn, Buildwas Road, Ironbridge, TF8 7BJ, 2.30-4pm.

Tickets £4 on the door.

Paperverse. 10.30-13.00. Jeff Phelps and Marion Cockin will be running a free poetry/papercraft workshop at Wolverhampton Library, Snow Hill, Wolverhampton WV1 3AX.

‘Finding our Funny Roots’ Emma Purshouse will be appearing at this Creative Black Country event. Join Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists for the sharing of the Finding Our Funny Roots project. A potted history of Black Country comedy between 1950 and 2000.

Arena Theatre, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1SE at 5 pm. Tickets £5. https://www.funny-things.co.uk/funny-roots

‘Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists’ Emma Purshouse will be appearing with Dave Pitt and Steve Pottinger. Three poets meet to plot their path to fame and fortune. Will they be distracted by beer and scratchings? Will they put the world to rights? Come and find out.

An evening of poetry and theatre like you’ve never seen before. The poets invite you to join them for a drink and chat after the show in the Lighthouse Cafe for an informal Q&A. Age 16+.

Tickets £5 plus booking fee (available from the Light House). Light House Media Centre, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1HT. 3.30-4.30 pm (doors open 3 pm).

Cherry Doyle will be reading at a Poetry Party organised by Fair Acre Press to celebrate the launch of Chris Kinsey’s From Rowan Ridge, and Kaite O’Reilly’s Persians (winner of the Ted Hughes award for new works in poetry) at the Mid Wales Arts Centre, Maesmawr, Caersws, SY17 5SB.

Sunday September 1st, 2.30pm – 6pm.

Free event, no need to book. Complimentary drink on arrival.

‘Seasonal Emotions’ poetry writing workshop with Cherry Doyle & Simon Fletcher (10am-4pm) at Pant village hall, Pant near Oswestry, SY10 9QG.

This workshop will focus on writing poetry about the ‘emotions’ of the seasons and how we interpret/ project on them. Refreshments will be provided but bring your own lunch and suitable clothing. We shall have our picnic on Llanymynech hill, a rich and varied habitat that’s colourful at this time of year. Meet at Pant Memorial Hall, Pant, near Oswestry, SY10 9QG.

Tickets £20/£15.