It seems the word is getting out - newcomers could not have chosen a better night to try out Pighog Thursday and the venue was packed. Headline poets Maria Jastrzebska and Liz Berry captured us with extraordinary observations from their everyday, inspiring in us rapt appreciation of details of our own lives which might otherwise slip by unnoticed.

Jastrzebska is Brighton-based, yet never far from her Polish roots. She began reading a whole poem in Polish while her willing accomplice read simultaneously in English. Perhaps it was to illustrate her notion that poetry transcends language, or perhaps to highlight the poem’s message that over the border the language may be different but we are the same and we carry our habits and comforts with us.

Her diverse repertoire included sensitively observed notes on coughing – who knew there were so many different coughs and what they might reveal about their bearer? – and a humorous recall of adolescent kissing-practice, with a mirror, behind doors still penetrable by her mother’s suspicious shout.

While a west-Midlands accent might not be picked as favourite in a ranking of local dialects, Liz Berry made magic of the Black Country’s. To say she is a born storyteller is to underestimate the vibrancy of colour in which she has painted over the dark industrial reputation of her local area and produced gems.

Seven poets braved the open mic, a fantastic facility for unsung poets to read to a live audience – first come, first served.