THE Poet Laureate is coming to Tewkesbury Abbey in April for a special concert evening marking the 60th anniversary of VE Day.

Oxford educated, lecturer, professor, editor, author, biographer, prize-winner and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Andrew Motion was appointed Poet Laureate in 1999.

His job as the royal poet is to mark special state events with a poem and he has also been working hard to give his role more public relevance by also marking events of public concern, like the Paddington rail disaster and the charity Childline.

He said: "I see myself as a town crier, can-opener and flag-waver to poetry as well as wanting to write poems about various events that seem suitable to me."

He also visits schools and colleges to promote poetry to younger people and has been succeeding by highlighting how poetry is already in their lives - on television and in pop music.

He said many youngsters, and adults, aren't sure what a Poet Laureate does.

"It's a very mysterious position," he said. "It's very ancient and very honourable but it hasn't always been clear what a person in such a position might do.

"My predecessor Ted Hughes wrote some extraordinary poems but although he did a great deal for poetry behind the scenes, he wasn't someone who had a very developed interest in appearing in public the way that I am prepared to do.

"Part of my interpretation of the role is to demystify it and prove that no matter how sophisticated the language, poetry latches on to very primitive human pleasures of reflection and association - which we forget as we grow older at our peril."

Motion has also co-founded the The Poetry Archive, which is starting this spring, which will be a web-based collection of poets reading their work.

He comes to Tewkesbury on April 28 and is joining the Tewkesbury Abbey School Choir, with musical director Benjamin Nicholas for an interesting evening of music and verse.

The concert starts at 7.30pm.