A-list poets call in

But the focus of the young fans attention was not some current pop idol but two celebrated poets.

The De La Warr Pavilion's auditorium was packed with excited school children on Friday last week to hear the prose of John Agard and Grace Nichols come alive through the mouths of the authors.

At the end of the hour long programme and before they had to return to schools across the town and Rother, the pupils were clamouring for autographs of these much admired poets.

Their visit to the town coincided with the third children's book festival and marked the start of a national tour of children's writers under the banner Poetry Matters presented by The Children's Bookshow.

The Lewes-based couple, who originated from Guyana, have lived in the county for 30 years and are much loved for their collection of Caribbean poems Under the Moon and Over the Sea.

Polly Gifford, head of education at the pavilion, said it had been really exciting having Grace and John sharing their verse with them.

"Poetry is for reading but it is for sharing too. This shows a whole other side of it by reading aloud."

She said they were hoping such events would become a regular part of the Bexhill book festival.