English PEN in collaboration with Kings College London today stages Human Writes, a World Poetry day slam featuring young SLAMbassador Megan Beech, pictured, alongside Femi Martin, and hosted by SLAMbassadors coach and artistic director, Joelle Taylor. All week in the run-up to World Poetry Day English PEN has been featuring the plight of persecuted poets around the world on its website. Human Writes is at the Gallery cafe, Old Ford Road, east London. Doors open at 7pm and entry is a £3 donation. Elsewhere in London, there is a reading of poems from around the world at Keats House, in Hampstead, north London, at 3-4pm. Other events include the Poetry Society teaming up with John Hegley and the TES to provide a free, 30-minute poetry workshop, beamed live at 1.45pm from the TES website for primary schools. The session will be suitable for children aged 5-11 years, and will also be available as a free video after the live streaming.

Every year on 21 March Unesco celebrates World Poetry Day. The day is intended to support poetry, return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, promote teaching poetry, and restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music, and painting.

Commendable aims … and the Milton Keynes poet laureate, Mark Niel, will be doing his best to follow them by visiting each library in Milton Keynes during the day - beginning at 9.30am at Newport Pagnell library - in an MK "world tour"  to launch his first collection, Somewhere South of Normal. 

PHOTOGRAPH: DAVID ANDREW