Write Out Loud’s Winston Plowes and British Pakistani poet Nabila Jameel are running a workshop on ghazals – a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain – and English readings of Urdu poetry at Todmorden library this Saturday morning, 1 October, as part of the Calderdale Readers and Writers festival.

Winston is a resident of the Rochdale canal in Calderdale. Among other things, his work in inspired by this interaction with his local landscape, his 11-year-old daughter, and the darker realities often found in the deserted corners of life. He is hoping to build a cultural bridge by writing ghazals in English which adhere to the classical requirements of the form.

Nabila has been published in anthologies and journals such as Stand and Poetry and Audience, and was runner-up in the 2010 Manchester Cathedral International Religious Poetry competition. The workshop begins at 10.30am. Entry £3/ £1.50, with tickets available from Todmorden library.