Two of the North West's leading women poets read their work as part of the Wordsworth Trust poetry series on Tuesday (August 17, 6.30pm) at Grasmere's Thistle Hotel, across the road from Dove Cottage.

Josephine Dickinson, born in London in 1956, became profoundly deaf overnight at the age of six. After reading classics at Oxford and teaching music for many years, she worked for Shape London organising arts access projects.

In 1994 she moved to Alston, one of many rural communities affected by foot-and-mouth in 2001, a subject explored in her most ambitious poem to date On The Wind, written in diary-style at the time of the crisis. On the Wind is included in her second and most recent collection of poetry The Voice, which is published this year.

Jenny Swann, who lives in Manchester, is a writer and art historian. A former lecturer at Tate Britain and the V&A, she was joint winner of the Redbeck Poetry Competition in 1999 for her pamphlet Flesh Tones, and third prize in the prestigious Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 2003.

Tickets £6/ £5 in advance on 015394-35544.

Meanwhile, the trust's artist-in-residence Christopher Bucklow exhibits his paintings in If This Be Not I, inspired by Wordsworth's great autobiographical poem, The Prelude, and running at the Dove Cottage 3degrees W gallery until September 30.

The National Children's Orchestra performs at Kendal's Westmorland Hall on Sunday, August 29 (3pm), in a programme including Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, Khachaturian's Adagio from Spartacus (the theme from the Onedin Line) and Elgar's Serenade for Strings. Local music teacher and director of the Furness Music Centre, Anastasia Micklethwaite, is one of 12 tutors from the country's top music schools and orchestras working with the under-13 ensemble. Tickets are £10/£8 concessions/ £4 under-14s available on 01934-820254 and from Kendal Tourist Information Centre.

KENDAL'S Mr Entertainment' Steve Hall is directing and producing another fast-moving summer spectacular at Burneside's Bryce Institute on August 25/27/28 (7.30pm). Showstopper 5 is packed with singing, dancing, comedy and plenty of dazzling costumes featuring big hits from Broadway and the West End, including Chicago, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, Aspects of Love, Jesus Christ Superstar and Carousel. Tickets are adults £5/ concessions £4/ children £3 and available on 07792-777213.

HAWKHEAD Parish Church's Music for a Summer Evening continues on Tuesday (8pm) with well-known pianist Heejung Kim, Northern Sinfonia flautist Mary Owen and BBC Radio 2 young musician of the year winner 1999, who is principal cor anglais with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Rachael Pankhurst (oboe). Admission free.

THE annual art exhibition at Staveley Roundhouse runs from Saturday, August 21-31 (10.30am-5.30pm) featuring some great work from artists across the region, a display by budding creators from Staveley School and woodturning items from Andy Gill.

A PROGRAMME of mainly Venetian organ music and J.S. Bach is performed by Dr Francis O' Gorman at St Andrew's Church, Coniston, tonight (Friday, 7.30pm). Mr O' Gorman is a former Oxford organ scholar who is senior lecturer in Victorian literature at the University of Leeds. Admission is free.