St Ives September festival of arts and literature - a mix of music, visual arts, poetry, and even a one-day course in knitting your own jewellery out of wire, if you should feel so inclined - begins on 8 September and runs until 22 September.

Every day during the festival Bob Deveraux hosts music and poetry in Norway Square (12.30-2pm) when anyone can come along and play, sing, recite or read. It moves to an indoor venue when there’s bad weather. On Thursday 20 September at 8pm St Ives Arts Club, pictured, is the atmospheric venue for the Big Frug – invited guests entertaining with more words and music.

Free Speech is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of both weeks at Cafe Art (5-6pm). This is an opportunity to come along and read your stories or poems in a lovely venue, where coffee and fab cakes are also available. Cafe Art is at the Drill Hall, Chapel Street.

During the fortnight there are talks, walks, artists opening their studios, and an all-night ceramic pit firing on Porthmeor beach (10-11 September). Highlights for writers and poets will include a book launch by Evelyn Holloway at the Arts Club on Wednesday 12 September at 7pm. Evelyn was born in Vienna but now spends half her time in St Ives. This is her second book and is illustrated with lino cuts by Anthea Richards.

On Friday 14 September (7.30pm) at the Arts Club there is an evening of original and improvised dance works performed by Liza Wedgewood inspired by the poems of Lesley Saunders - Some Languages Are Hard To Dream In. On Tuesday 18 September (7.30pm) Anna Chen presents The Steampunk Opium Wars, a satirical extravaganza about China, Britain, imperialism and drugs in the 19th century in verse and music.

Find much more here by looking on the www.stivesseptemderfestival.co.uk website and check out the WOL gig guide in September for more info.

This is St Ives in Cornwall btw….