Alan Gillis and Ian Duhig joined forces last Saturday to provide the first double bill of this year's Ledbury Poetry Festival. The voices and themes of this joint performance were distinctly Irish at times; not surprising given the heritage of both writers.

First to take the stage was Alan Gillis, a poet and lecturer based in Belfast. Only once during the performance did we glimpse the troubles which have befallen this city in his hugely powerful poem, Progress'. In very few lines, Gillis made us imagine a bombing in reverse and see how healing and reassembly might happen as the result of an explosion. But there were also far more light-hearted moments in poems such as Don't You' which borrowed heavily from eighties pop lyrics belonging to The Human League, Eurythmics and other groups whose memory I had been trying hard to suppress. Perhaps the most entertaining of Gillis' poems was the outrageous The Lad' which found innumerable names for man's real best friend and had the audience chortling in the aisles with recognition.

Then to Ian Duhig. Born of Irish parents, he evoked traditional folk dance and lyrics with poems such as Mummers' whilst making a strong statement about a more modern musical movement in Freed Time': a piece about the poet's view of the true origins of Rock n Roll. Reading from his latest work The Speed of Dark' and other collections, Ian Duhig's friendly and informal style, interspersed with amusing anecdotes about squirrels (!), instantly put his audience at ease. A particular favourite of mine was a piece entitled Goths' which described urban teenagers making a day trip out of a city centre. The final line had the goths taking pictures of themselves, hoping that they wouldn't develop'.

Overall, both performances felt real, down-to-earth and accessible. At times, you had to remind yourself that you were at a literary event and not sharing a few verses with two blokes down the pub. Really good value and a thoroughly laid back way to spend an hour on a Saturday.