ACCLAIMED performance poet Levi Tafari will be appearing at St Helens Central Library for an afternoon of poetry and stories.

Born and raised in Liverpool by his Jamaican parents he started attending the Livepool 8 Writers Workshop in the early 1980s while working as a caterer.

His early career was spent performing largely within the Rastafarian community, but the desire to reach a wider audience saw him travel overseas.

Levi identifies himself as an ‘urban griot’ (a traditional consciousness raiser, storyteller, newscaster and political agitator).

His plays have been performed across the country and several of his musical tracks can be found on compilation albums. He has also recorded much of his poetry.

Levi has published four collections of poetry, Duboetry (1987), Liverpool Experience (1989), Rhyme don't Pay (1998) and From the Page to the Stage (2006).

He often runs creative writing workshops in schools, universities, prisons and colleges and most recently he has worked with the British Council on tours to the Czech Republic, Jordan, Germany and Singapore. He has also appeared in many television programmes including Blue Peter and Grange Hill and has also made a film about Rastafarianism for BBC's Everyman programme.

Musically he has worked with the Ghanaian drum and dance ensemble Delado, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, jazz musician Dennis Rollins and his own reggae band Ministry of Love.

Currently he is preparing a new collection of poems and experimenting in the recording studio. He continues to perform his work at venues across the globe.

The public performance at Central library is suitable for people aged 11 upwards and forms part of the library’s Reading Activists project work.

Places must be booked by phoning Central library on 01744 676989.