POEM and a Pint's Springfest takes place next week with one of Cumbria's finest purveyors of poetry topping the bill.

Special guest for the Saturday, April 7, event at Greenodd Village Hall, will be champion poet Jacob Polley, now teaching at Newcastle University and living over in the north east, but returning to his home county to give chapter and verse on his latest collection, Jackself, which landed him the TS Eliot prize.

Regarded by the prestigious poetry prize's judges as "a firework of a book," Jackself describes a rural upbringing in Cumbria in the language of English folklore.

Indeed Jacob's stories of the two boys, Jackself and his friend and companion Jeremy Wren, are threaded with nursery rhymes, riddles and cautionary tales. They use not only the many Jacks of English legend, Jack Frost, Jack o’Lantern, even that Jack who built the house, but Jacks in nature, Jack Snipe and Jackdaw, sometimes it seems any Jack reference that can underscore his universality, the essential boy. The writing is sensitive and clever, but also is unforgettable and disturbing in its exploration of a tenuous innocence, of childhood lost.

Jacob's poems habitually delve deep into what is eerie and unstable. His first collection, The Brink (2003), a Poetry Book Society Choice, praised for its subtle lines and inventive images, showed the poet's fascination with the transforming possibilities of description and metaphor, their ability to blur certainty and create doubt.

In Little Gods (2006), his second tome, a fascination with nature's often mysterious workings is more evident.

Premier league Jacob is one of those poets whose readings are measured, musical, even at times understated. And no doubt his Poem and a Pint appearance should make for a enthralling and memorable night.

Also in the Poem and a Pint April 7 line-up will be semi-acoustic duo Further to Fly, courtesy of Caroline Gilfillan (guitar and vocals) and Debs Williams (percussion, guitar and vocals), performing their own material and renditions of classy covers. Formed a couple of years ago, the harmonious pairing of Caroline and Debs previously sang together in the popular Lancaster all-female acapella group Crikey Aphrodite.

With plenty to wax lyrical about, the PP gig also includes a revitalised open mic, a heady combination of invited guests and sign-up-at-the-door floor spots, plus the gentle wit of MC Mark Carson.

Proceedings begin at 7.30pm.

Greenodd Village Hall is just off the A590 east of Ulverston.

Pay at the door.

For further information visit www.apoemandapint.co.uk.