SPOKEN word events with poet Jonny Fluffypunk can be enjoyed at rural pubs across Dorset courtesy of Artsreach.

The Inn Crowd - Poetry and Pint Night with Jonny Fluffypunk will tour to Melbury Osmond, Marnhull and Stourpaine next month.

In 2018, CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) published its latest pub closure statistics, at a rate of 18 per week nationally. The Inn Crowd is a unique project that has been running throughout South East of England, supporting rural pubs to host a variety of spoken word inspired, professional live performances to help landlords attract new customers, widen the experience for their regular punters, and reinforce the pub as a central, vibrant part of community life.

Jonny grew up in the far-flung, forgotten reaches of outer suburbia. In 1984, he was fifteen. This is a story about being the first punk in the village and the only trainspotter in eyeliner; about unrequited love and youth club and John Peel and the forgotten gods of small record shops; about making your own myth and letting go and a million everyday life-changing moments in the back end of nowhere. This is a lo-fi stand-up spoken word performance for anyone who has listened to late-night radio under the bedcovers, or fallen in love, or just been alive!

Jonny Fluffypunk’s energetic and engaging show ‘How I came to be where I never was’ fuses elements of theatre, storytelling, comedy, stand-up poetry (think John Cooper-Clarke not John Keats) and even a bit of ukulele!

Join Jonny down the local at The Sheaf of Arrows, Melbury Osmond (01935 83004) on February 5, Blackmore Vale Inn, Marnhull (01258 820701) on February 6 and The White Horse, Stourpaine (01258 453535) on February 13. All events start at 8pm and are free to attend, though donations are welcomed. Contact the pubs directly to pre-book food. Recommended 16+ Further information is also available at artsreach.co.uk.