A live Radio Wildfire transmission, featuring Dave Reeves, from Leamington Spa Heritage Festival, 10.30am-12.30pm & 2-4pm. Listen online at www.radiowildfire.com.

Bantock House, Wolverhampton.Workshop on environmental poetry for writers with disabilities led by Simon Fletcher & Jane Seabourne. 11am -2pm. Tickets £10. Contact 01691 831463 or email us for more information.

As part of Black Country Big Book Fortnight, Offa’s Press poets are putting on a number of performances the week beginning May 28th across West Midlands libraries:

• Monday May 28: Black Country Dialectics at Wednesfield Library, Wolverhampton, 2-3pm. Dave Reeves & friends. Free
• Monday May 28: ‘Funny Women’ Emma Purshouse, Jane Seabourne & Win Saha at Warstones Library, Wolverhampton, 6-7pm. Free
• Tuesday May 29: ‘Funny Women’ at Kingswinford Library, Dudley, 7.30pm. Please book tickets through Kingswinford Library 01384 812740
• Wednesday May 30: May West Bromwich Library, Sandwell, Dave Reeves solo reading from Black Country Dialectics. 2.30pm.

Environmental Poetry workshop at Oswestry Library, Shropshire. 11am-1pm with Jane Seabourne & Simon Fletcher. Tickets £10/£7. For further info ring Jane on 01902 757863 or email: info@offaspress.co.uk. Supported by Arts Council England.

Simon Fletcher and Basir Sultan Kazmi will be running a writing day at Pant, near Oswestry, 10am-4pm, on the poetry of nature focussing on the ghazal poetic form. The day costs £20/£15 and includes a walk. For more info contact Simon on 01691 831463 or email us

Nick Pearson and Emma Purshouse will be taking part in an event at the Wenlock Poetry Festival, Shropshire, featuring Nadia Kingsley’s anthology Shropshire Butterflies. The Edge Arts Centre 2pm Much Wenlock £6 (£5.50).

The following day, Sunday April 15th, Offa’s Press will have a bookstall in the Cornmarket in Much Wenlock so do come along and say hello to the team.

Jane Seabourne will be conducting some micro poetry workshops on the limerick at the Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, on Thursday March 8. This is part of the Women of Wolverhampton (WOW) International Women’s Week activities. 12noon -2pm. Free.

Funny Women (Emma Purshouse, Jane Seabourne & Win Saha) will be performing their poetry at Long Knowle Library, Wood End Road, Wolverhampton, 6-7pm. Free event. For further info ring Elaine on 01902 556290.

Environmental Poetry workshop at the Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton. 11am-1pm with Jane Seabourne & Nick Pearson. Meet in the Gathering Space. Tickets £10/£7. For further info ring Jane on 01902 757863 or email us. Supported by Arts Council England.

Dave Reeves will be performing his Black Country Dialectics at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, 7.30pm, Tickets £9/ 7.

With Jane Seabourne and Nick Pearson.

Saturday 4th February 10am – 12noon

Fotofilia, 20 Regent Parade (off Caroline St)
Birmingham B1 3NS.

To book a place please contact Jane at jseabourne@blueyonder.co.uk or ring 01691 831463.
Costs £10/£7. For further details of how to get there see this note.

Simon Fletcher and Marion Cockin will be running another Poetry Writing Day on Saturday 28th January at Pant village hall, near Oswestry, Shropshire. The day, which includes a gentle walk on Llanymynech Hill, will be from 10am-4pm and will focus on the winter landscape and villanelle form. Tickets are £20/ £15. For further info ring 01691 831463 or email info@offaspress.co.uk

Dave Reeves will be taking part in a Black Country Night at the Cafe Metro, Bilston, WV14 0AH, Saturday, January 14th. Brendan Hawthorne and Madge Gilbey are also on the bill. Tickets are £7 including a Black Country buffet and are available from Cafe Metro on 01902 498888.

Dave Reeves reading at Waterstones, Wolverhampton

Dave Reeves will be reading from his Black Country Dialectics at Waterstones, Victoria Street, Wolverhampton, on Saturday 17th December 3pm. Free event.

Dave Reeves will be performing his show Black Country Dialectics, based on his Offa’s Press pamphlet, at Bilston Library, Mount Pleasant, Bilston, WV14 7LU, 4-5pm. Free event. Dave will be supported by Chris Lomas and Heather Wastie.

Jane Seabourne and Nick Pearson will be leading the second in our series of ‘environmental poetry’ workshops at the Courtyard Theatre, Edgar Street, Hereford, HR4 9JR. The workshop is from 11am-1pm and costs £10/£7. To book a place please contact Jane Seabourne on 01902 757863 or Simon Fletcher on 01691 831463. For further info see our submissions notes for We’re All in This Together.

Dave Reeves will be doing a turn at ‘Bilston Voices’ at Cafe Metro, 46, Church Street, Bilston, WV14 0AH. Dave will be reading a few snippets from his Black Country Dialectics. 7.30pm. Tickets £2.

Nick Pearson and Simon Fletcher will be running a poetry writers’ workshop (11am-1pm) on the theme of ‘the environment’ at Walsall Museum, WS1 1TR. This event is supported by Arts Council England. Tickets are £10/£7. For further info email simonfletcher58@gmail.com or telephone 01691 831463.

Poetry from the subsequent poetry writing workshops may be considered for inclusion in the anthology, We’re All in This Together. See submission details.

10.30-11am: ‘Friends of Offa’ Tom Jenkins, Marion Cockin & Simon Fletcher

12.30-1pm: Offa’s Poets Jane Seabourne, Nick Pearson & Win Saha.

The Shire Hall Gallery, Market Street, Stafford, ST16 2LD.

Poets Emma Purshouse and Jane Seabourne will be performing their poetry somewhere in Birmingham from 3.30-4pm. For more info: www.artsfest.org.uk

Emma Purshouse, Win Saha and Jane Seabourne will be performing their poetry at Ashmore Park library, Griffiths Drive, Wolverhampton, WV11 2JW from 2.30pm. This is a free event. For further info contact Ashmore Park library on 01902 556296.

Nick Pearson’s ‘Made in Captivity’ is being launched at the Shakespeare Inn, West Castle Street, Bridgnorth on Wednesday 10th August, 7.30pm.

All are welcome.

The publication is available to order from our online shop.

This collection draws together a range of work written over the last ten years. Urban, sharply observed, often humorous and with elements of atmospheric staging these poems catch some of the voices of contemporary disconnection and the search for certainty.

Pant Workshop, near Oswestry, Shropshire. Saturday 30th July 2011.

Simon Fletcher and Marion Cockin will lead a session on the sonnet, 10am-4pm.

The day will include a gentle walk and a picnic so please remember to bring food and suitable clothing.

Cost £20/£15.

To see some examples of work that’s grown out of these outdoor workshops visit the Workshop Poems page.

‘Poetry from Scratch’, Codsall Village Hall, South Staffordshire, July 2011

Win Saha and Jane Seabourne performing at the Black Country Libraries’ Big Book Fortnight event ‘Funny Women’.

Writers enjoying notemaking and writing first drafts on Llanymynech Hill near Pant, Shropshire, July 31st.

Emma Purshouse performing at the City Bar, Wolverhampton in June 2010

Offa’s Press launch at Pendeford Library, Wolverhampton, May 22, 2010.

Photo by Jacky Mannix