Internationally-acclaimed poet Tony Harrison reads from his eighth and latest volume of poetry at Salts Mill - with tributes to the man who brought new life to the mill.

What is bound to give special poignancy to the reading on Friday, February 4 is that Yorkshire-born Harrison's Penguin paperback, Laureate's Block and Other Poems, contains four poems dedicated to the late owner of Salts Mill, Jonathan Silver.

Auroras, the title of the first, plays on the idea of sunrise and the trade name of the expensive fountain pen which Jonathan gave his friend a couple of years before he died on September 25, 1997.

Harrison read the poem at the subsequent memorial concert at Salts on December 14, 1997.

During an interview with the T&A in December 1998, the poet explained what Jonathan Silver meant to him.

"After doing Square Rounds for the National Theatre, a very difficult work which didn't go right, I lost my creative confidence.

"But Jonathan got me doing Poetry or Bust for the mill. I wrote, designed and directed the play, all in two weeks. He gave me the sense that everything was possible. He was absolutely extraordinary."

In Marie Mastat, the second poem, Harrison makes correspondence between the real name of a Bulgarian opera singer and Marimastat, the name of a new cancer drug which Silver had agreed to pioneer.

Valetudinous Valentine, dedicated to Jonathan and his wife Maggie, describes Silver swallowing the first pink pill - a journey into the unknown - with a glass of vintage champagne.

Border Honey, the fourth poem, is written in the style of Tennyson's In Memoriam and recalls the time that Harrison brought back photographs of sunflowers from Bulgaria to cheer his dying friend.

The collection, which also contains a sonnet called Bridlington, about the time when Harrison sat for Bradford-born artist David Hockney, takes its title from the poet's grand protest against the Poet Laureateship vacated after the death of Ted Hughes in October 1998.

The poem was originally published in The Guardian. Andrew Motion was chosen for the post.

Harrison's reading at Salts Mill on February 4 takes place at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and may be obtained by ringing 01274 531163.

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