Poetry lovers gathered for a free evening of open mic performances at Hove Library on Wednesday evening for the Every Day is Poetry Day event.

A number of published and amateur poetry enthusiasts showed off their talents, as well as being treated to the expertise of three special guests in Ben Graham, Yvo Luna, and Rosy Carrick.

The event's organiser Louise Halvardsson, who performed under her stage name Lou Ice, was pleased with the evening, saying: "Everyone gets a chance, and it's nice to have some real quality performers".

The performances took place in the children's library section, and the strong content of some of Graham's and Alice Kelly Purnell's work in particular juxtaposed wonderfully with the surroundings.

Special guest Yvo Luna spoke of her links to the 102-year-old Hove Library: "My earliest memories of literature were at this library…lots of pony books!"

Graham thoughtfully performed a relevant local piece entitled Ken Kesey on Hove Lawns, speaking of "rainy-day women and sour-flowered children…on that Victorian promenade," providing the audience with a surreal slice of local history.

Following National Poetry Week, Purnell explained the important cultural role that poetry can still play: "People need to laugh (with all the problems in the world)…and we're lucky to have such a rich language."

Another performer, Ann Perrin, said that her experience as a former puppeteer gave her the courage to perform, exclaiming: "You have to go for it!"

On a professional note, one of Luna's humorous pieces, entitled Recycled (about the fate of our recycling), even featured our very own Argus paper: "The Argus, for example, gets turned into soup" - food for thought indeed!

By Tom Doyle