POET Antony Dunn will headline tonight’s Sounds Lyrical gig in The Basement, at City Screen, York, at 8pm.

Antony, who used to work at York theatre company Riding Lights and York Theatre Royal, has had three collections of poems published: Pilots And Navigators (Oxford University Press, 1998), Flying Fish (Carcanet OxfordPoets, 2002) and Bugs (Carcanet OxfordPoets, 2009) and is a regular tutor for The Poetry School and the Arvon Foundation.

He has worked on translation projects with poets from Holland, Hungary, China and Israel; was poet in residence at the University of York in 2006 and Ilkley Literature Festival in 2010; and is artistic director of the Bridlington Poetry Festival. He also writes for the theatre.

Sounds Lyrical will perform music by Philip Glass, John Cage and Berlin-era David Bowie, as well as reading their own poetry and performing their own songs.

Central to tonight’s gig is The Last Dragon, a new work by Sounds Lyrical composer David Power that sets poems by all four Sounds Lyrical poets, Alan Gillott, Rose Drew, Lizzi Linklater and Andy Humphrey, to original music.

“These poems also will be read out so that this becomes an evening for music lovers and poetry lovers but also for those interested in insights into the creative process itself,” says Power, chairman of the Sounds Lyrical project.

“Sounds Lyrical is a group of four poets and four composers, all with strong connections to the city of York. We’ve given acclaimed performances at the Bridlington Poetry Festival, Ryedale Book Festival and York 800, and we’ve secured more than £12,000 of Arts Council funds to create new work and deliver four new concerts and a radio programme.”

Tonight’s concert is the third in this series. “We’re delighted with how they have gone so far. Audiences are increasing and their feedback shows that they enjoy our novel approach to mixing music and poetry,” says Power.

“Antony Dunn is a wonderful poet and it’s a joy to hear him read his own poetry. We believe the concert will be the best yet and so we’re looking forward to welcoming back our existing fans and meeting new ones.”

Tickets are £6 on the door from 7.30pm and on 0871 902 5726.