On the Fourth of July, American poets Mark Doty and Marilyn Hacker were Dr Charles Bennett's "dream ticket" and it was the festival director who welcomed them to the Burgage Hall.

First up was Marilyn Hacker, who read with an infallible sense of rhythm and revealed a crisp, efficient sense of imagery that made even her most complex works seem open. The making of an omelette gave the audience a cooking lesson while revealing snapshots of gay and lesbian lifestyles.

In this way, historical and social comments were stirred in with the ingredients and Hacker is certainly a political writer who is on the side of people.

She is strong on using exotic poetic forms from non-English speaking cultures and powerful when describing the juggling acts women must accomplish while being themselves, attentive partners and good mothers.

Doty's verse might appeal more to those who enjoy the narrative of novels, rather than poetry "neat" in a lyrical and traditional way. This is not to denigrate his achievement, which is considerable and the poem No, about children bringing in a wood turtle, is intense and charming.

His long account about a near air crash could slip across the ear as either verse or prose. But it went down well with the audience, not least because Doty is able to laugh at himself, while inviting us all to laugh at the loom of sudden death and the relief of eventual escape. Gary Bills-Geddes