POETRY ranging from Wordsworth to rock 'n' roll will be provided in County Durham soon.

Five libraries will host Durham County Council's poet in residence, Kevin Cadwallender, and his guests, who will remind audiences of works by poets old and new. The readings are part of the county council's Sharp Stick initiative that aims to celebrate the reading and writing of contemporary poetry.

"We'll be reading a very diverse range of poems and poets and some of the themes that we'll be covering include family relationships, love, pop music, childhood, youth culture, science-fiction and racism," said Kevin.

"Many of the old favourites, such as Wordsworth, will be there, but there will also be a lot of new work and a lot of surprises."

Among the guest readers will be Elle Ludkin, Jeff Price and Shabnam Anam.

Elle Ludkin starts the series at Peterlee Library on Tuesday, October 9, with Poetry Odyssey followed by Gillian Wall, at Newton Hall Library, on October 16, with Wordsworth and the Romantic Fools.

Shabnam Anam is at Sedgefield Library on October 17, with Once Below a Time, and at Lanchester Library on December 6 with What is the Colour of Poetry?

Jeff Price brings Rock 'n' Roll is the New Poetry to Belmont Library on October 30.