A major BBC literary programme will be broadcast live from Bradford next month.

Radio 4's long-running Poetry Please request programme, presented by Frank Delaney, is scheduled to go out from the Alhambra's Studio Theatre at 4.30pm on Sunday, May 27.

One of the three readers will be Bradford-based poet and poetry editor Gerard Benson. He is currently in the middle of a series of talks about poets at Bradford Central Library; his third, about John Clare, takes place on May 31 - four days after Poetry Please.

This will be the first time Poetry Please has been broadcast from the city and comes towards the end of Bradford's Literature Festival - Reading the City - which starts on April 23 and ends on June 13.

Producer Sara Davies told the Telegraph & Argus: "We're actually part of the BBC Music Live Festival (taking place in Bradford, Leeds and York). The theme of the programme will be music in poetry, We are really keen on having requests from the people of Bradford - but only for published poetry, please!"

Gerard Benson was unavailable for comment - the T&A was told that he is in Paris - but as one of the editors of the best-selling Poetry on the Underground series he will know the value of being associated with such a programme.

The Poetry Please broadcast is one of nine poetry events out of a total of 29 readings, talks and performances listed to take place at a variety of venues throughout Bradford Metropolitan District by an international, cross-cultural range of writers between April 23 and June 13.

Artists include: Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes; columnist, playwright and novelist Keith Waterhouse; Bernard Cornwell, whose 18th Sharpe adventure is published on St George's Day, April 23; cult novelist Will Self; Bronte expert Juliet Barker; Asian writers M Y Alam, Quaisra Sharaz and Debjani Chaterjee and the poetry singer Syed Parvez; Bradford-based poet and novelist Joolz; and the entire Bradford poetry publisher Redbeck Press.

Festival organiser Tom Palmer said: "Reading the City is about celebrating reading and writing.

"It is a great chance for people to meet some of the biggest names in the literary world, hear authors talk about their work, listen to readings and, in some cases, see the film of the book."

l Send your poetry requests to Sara Davies, Poetry Please, BBC Radio 4, Broadcasting House, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2LR, or telephone her on 0117-974-2463, or e-mail her on sara.davies@bbc.co.uk.

Tickets for Poetry Please are free and can be reserved by ringing Bfd 752000. Full listings will be given in a special T&A Reading the City supplement due out on Tuesday.