“People generally come into contact with poetry at births, weddings and deaths – but an awful lot of people get a lot from poetry.

“Someone made the comparison between poetry and public libraries – people hardly ever use them, but would complain if they weren’t there.”

So says poet John Davies, the director of poetry publishers Pighog Press, and organiser of the Brighton Poetry Festival, Pigbaby, which takes its name from a passage in Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland.

Last year the publisher’s celebration of poetry was held out in the wilds of Cooksbridge, but for 2011 the performances have been brought firmly into the centre of Brighton.

Upstairs At Three And Ten is hosting three nights of free performances, including launches of some of Pighog’s latest collections, while just up the road, the Redroaster is the venue for a series of paying performances by international poets of all genres.

“Some people think poetry is a bit highbrow and not very accessible,” says Davies.

“We want people to take the chance and just do something a bit different – to come along to one of the events and be amazed. Everyone will find a poem they relate to.”

The extensive programme includes some internationally renowned poets, including a night dedicated to the “avant garde old guard” on Thursday, November 24.

Albion Village Press founder, novelist and poet Iain Sinclair will be joined by Lee Harwood and Brighton-based Tom Raworth, both poets associated with the British Poetry Revival of the 1960s when Beat figurehead Allen Ginsberg was able to fill the Royal Albert Hall with fans. Other big-name guests include the Iranian-born founder of The Poetry School, Mimi Khalvati, who will read from her latest collection Child: New And Selected Poems 1991-2011 from 8pm on Saturday, November 26. And James Joyce Literary Millennium Prize-winner Ciaran O’Driscoll, from Limerick, will be performing on Wednesday, November 23, from 8pm.

But the festival isn’t just about attracting international talent, with Pighog supporting local authors too.

“I think Brighton is known as a theatrical city, but it’s also a very poetical city too,” says Davies, who launched Pighog here nine years ago, partly as a way of getting his own poetry published.

“There are an awful lot of really talented poets in Sussex. It’s one of the leading areas in Europe, not just the UK, for poetry and creative writing.

“Some are writing very post-modern, unusual and fragmented work, such as Keston Sutherland, one of the leading young poets in the world who is based at the University Of Sussex.

“But we also have beautiful accessible poems from Catherine Smith [performing at Redroaster on Saturday, November 26, from 10pm] and Clare Best [whose new collection Breastless is launched at Three And Ten on Friday, November 25, at 6pm].”

Other local poets taking part in this year’s festival are Brighton-born Lorna Thorpe, who is launching her new collection Sweet Torture Of Breathing on Friday, November 25, at Redroaster from 8pm, and Lewes-based Kay Syrad, at Redroaster on Wednesday, November 23, from 8pm. And the city is celebrated in Irish-born poet Mark Whelan’s new pamphlet Brighton Suite, which is launched on Thursday, November 24, at Three And Ten from 6pm.

This year’s poetry festival is also offering a platform for new writers, with two open mic sessions at the Redroaster tonight and tomorrow from 8pm.

“The night I came out as a poet was at an open mic at the Nightingale Theatre when Billy Childish was doing a gig,” says Davies.

“The first time I read a poem aloud was a very powerful experience for me.

“It feels very exposing – people are often being very honest and truthful with their first poems.

“One of the transitions poets go through is from that raw, personal work to something that has the same power but is more universal. Pighog has done a lot of work with people helping them to come out as poets and move on.”

* Three And Ten: Wed to Fri 6pm, free.

* Redroaster: Tues to Sat, from 8pm, from £5, Sat £10. Festival ticket £16.

Call 01273 242850 or visit www.pighog.co.uk

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