LEGENDARY Welsh writer Dylan Thomas would be proud of the three poets reading in his memory at Hereford's Courtyard theatre next week.

Glenn Storhaug, Amanda Attfield and Paul Christmas are delightfully vociferous. When we meet to discuss the paucity of poetry in the county they respond like fish at feeding time.

Attfield, chair of the Hereford Poetry Group, is particularly conscious of the below-the-line status that poetry seems to have.

"Where are the people in their 30s and 40s?" she asks.

Poetry seems to fall in a gulf between those force-fed Kipling at school, and those finding their voice in later life.

The three published writers (Storhaug set up his own publishing company - Five Seasons Press - some years ago) will be reading passages from Dylan's work as well as their own, which tie in with the theme of childhood and reminiscence.

Storhaug has also written a new work, inspired by a line from Under Milk Wood.

"I admire the highly wrought density of the language, while here and there he hits the heights," he says.

"It's a canon fire of imagery," adds Christmas, referring to the writer's most famous play.

"Not a loose word anywhere," says Attfield, "And the best thing about his work is that it's accessible to everyone."

All three are members of the Border Poets Group, based in Shropshire, which has a close association with Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Paul Christmas and Amanda Attfield are also known for their Christmas reading of A Child's Christmas, which has played to packed houses in Hereford for the past two years.

Their Courtyard readings echo the fact that Under Milk Wood - playing in the main house from February 2-4 - was written for radio. Join them for half an hour of poetry prior to the play from 6.45-7.15pm in the gallery.

I'm hoping this is one occasion when the lure of free wine is not the major draw.