EXETER is to host the South West qualifying heat of the Radio 4 National Performance Poetry Slam 2009.

Some of the region's best performance poets will compete at Exeter Phoenix in Gandy Street on Saturday for one of two places in the UK semi-final.

Radio 4 poet in residence Matt Harvey will host the evening. He will be joined by International Slam winning Lucy English.

The two winners from the South West heat will go onto perform in one of the two inter-regional semi-finals to be broadcast on Radio 4 on September 24 at 11pm and October 1 at 11pm.

To coincide with the BBC's Poetry Season, an Exeter landlord is looking for the best Pub Poet from the South West to represent the region in a national competition.

The search for The Pub Poet is being launched to coincide with a golden ale festival being held in The Barn Owl on Guardian Road.

Landlord of The Barn Owl, Craig Holmes, said: "Can there be anything much more inspirational, when it comes to writing poetry, than enjoying a quiet a pint of golden ale on a warm summer's evening?

Entries must be sent by email to pubpoet@gmail.com and entrants should put The Barn Owl in the subject line of their email and include their name and telephone number in the email itself. The deadline is July 31.