Roll up, roll up for the poetry jam at the Marsden jazz festival. This year Write Out Loud, high on the buzz generated by the success of its popular poetry jam, is staging a new, extra event at the festival, The Beat Is Back, an eclectic mix of poetic and musical homage to jazz and blues heroes and the legendary Beat poets, later on the same day, Sunday 13 October.

But first the ever-popular poetry jam, which has quickly become a fixture at the festival. It starts at 11am on Sunday morning at the Railway pub, Marsden, and is a two-hour – or thereabouts – fiesta of bonhomie and grassroots poetry. Last year it overran by half an hour.

Later that day you should make your way to the New Inn pub for The Beat Is Back, a lavish mix of beat/jazz poetry including Lavinia Murray, Edward Henderson and Louis, Jazzman John Clarke, Anjum Malik, Dave Morgan, Julian Jordon, David Cooke and Ralph Dartford. The Beat Is Back kicks off at 3.30pm. There’ll be paeans to Jack Kerouac, a reading of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, a touch of Rimbaud, poetic tributes to jazz giants, and much more. A legendary Pennine jazz-poetry event is in the offing. Did we mention that entry is free? Don’t miss it!  

The jazz festival itself is over three days, from 11-13 October.    

PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID ANDREW / WRITE OUT LOUD