Two writers come together for an evening of hard-hitting poetry imbued with the rhythms of everyday Britain. A poet whose work shares much with the American Beats, Tom Pickard was described by Allen Ginsberg  as ‘one of the most live and true poetic voices in Great Britain.’ He founded the Morden Tower readings series in Newcastle in 1963 and his Ballad of Jamie Allan (2007) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Carcanet has just published his Collected Poems, hoyoot. Funny, irreverent and sometimes shocking, the poetry of Alan Gillis employs the speech of post-millennial age with great precision. A Belfast native whose work was shortlisted for the TS Eliot and the Irish Times/Poetry Now Prizes, his fourth book Scapegoat will be published by The Gallery Press in October. Visit the 2014 Manchester Literature Festival website for booking details.