WINCHESTER has set the bar high with this year’s Poetry Festival.

A relative newcomer – only its second event – it has attracted an enviable line-up of world-class poets, including three who have been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious Forward Prize.

Featuring specially commissioned new work from Simon Armitage, a new poetry prize, plus poetry-inspired art installations, walking tours and even an emergency poet, the festival aims to be inventive as well as surprise and delight its visitors.

Simon Armitage, who will appear at two events, has written a new poem – Hence – specially for the festival which will be published for the first time in the programme brochure.

The festival also features 40 other poets and speakers, including Sinead Morrissey, Roger McGough and Bernard O’Donoghue. Former homelessness worker Ian Duhig and asylum seeker Choman Hardi are both in the running for the 2016 Forward Prize best poetry collection.

Themes include revolution, and a spotlight on Keats, on the 200th anniversary of year in which he gave up medicine and took up poetry. Keats spent time in Winchester, where he wrote his famous Ode To Autumn.

The festival has earned a reputation for championing and showcasing the art of poetry in translation. Co-director Sasha Dugdale, poet and editor of the magazine Modern Poetry in Translation, is also on the Forward Prize shortlist and will host a translation duel.

From readings to talks and workshops, Winchester Poetry Festival will appeal to anyone who has been stirred by a poem, or who has scribbled one on the back of an envelope, as well as established writers keen to explore the craft. Workshops include finding your voice, with acclaimed poet Helen Mort, plus sessions on editing and performance skills.

Events for children include poems from around the world and a young ballads competition.

To run from October 7-9, the Winchester Poetry Festival will take place at a number of events throughout the city, including the Discovery Centre and the Theatre Royal.