A POET'S work is due for a timely reappraisal, thanks to a special lecture and reading organised by the Friends of the Dymock Poets.

The masterclass is one highlight of a weekend of events put together by the literary society for Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23.

Before the First World War, Wilfred Gibson was a key member of the so-called "poets' colony" at Dymock, and was hailed as a ground-breaking realist for his social themes.

Today he is largely unread, unlike fellow Dymock poets such as Robert Frost and Edward Thomas, whose readerships swelled considerably over the years, while Gibson's diminished.

The Burgage Hall in Ledbury's Church Lane will be the venue, from 7pm on Saturday, March 22, for a talk from a Gibson expert and enthusiast, the Tyneside poet Keith Armstrong.

Last year, Mr Armstrong edited a book on Gibson's home town of Hexham and contributed an authoritative chapter on the poet, who was born 125 years ago.

Mr Armstrong has published poetry in magazines including the Poetry Review, Other Poetry, The Poetry Business and Poetry in Scotland, and he has read at festivals in Cardiff, Durham and Cheltenham.

He has also toured Europe as a poet, with the support of the British Council, and he has given a reading to the European Parliament.

Mr Armstrong will be supported by the well-respected poet Katrina Porteous, who lives on the Northumbrian coast and celebrates landscapes that Gibson would have recognised.

The fishing community gave her inspiration for her first collection The Lost Music (Bloodaxe, 1996).

She has since written about environmental themes such as the regeneration of the East Durham coal beaches.

A daffodil walk around Dymock on the morning of March 22, led by Friends of the Dymock Poets' chairman and folklorist, Roy Palmer, has already sold out.

But tickets are still available for both the Gibson talk and reading, and the literary coach tour, which will be led by the blue badge guide Peter Arscott on Sunday, March 23 from 10.30am.

Mr Arscott will point out the many literary and cultural connections in the area.

Tickets and further details for all events are available from the society secretary Catharine Luck on 01531 634796.