The Welsh launch of a new anthology will be held at the Cellar Bards live literature event in Cardigan.

Bards regulars and visitors from all over west Wales will celebrate the publication of the Welsh/Irish anthology ‘Red Lamp, Black Piano’ at the Cellar Bar on Friday, February 28, from 8pm. Many contributors to the anthology will be reading their work and the usual open mic slots will be available too.

The book presents the work of writers who have participated in the Caca Milis (www.cacamilis.org) cabaret in Wexford as part of the Coracle project's literary exchange scheme between Wales and Ireland. A programme of literary performance exchanges between the Caca Milis cabaret and the Poems and Pints monthly live literature event at the Queens in Carmarthen led to a five year collaboration between writers in Ireland and Wales.

To mark the five-year anniversary, Helena Mulkerns, of Caca Milis, has edited the anthology, which is published by Tara Press, and presents work by a selection of the writers and poets who have participated over the years.

Dominic Williams, of the west Wales based write4word company, and co-ordinator of the Ireland/Wales Coracle project, said: “The book’s spirited and irreverent introduction by writer Patrick McCabe captures the impromptu spirit of the Cabaret itself and sets the scene for a dazzling gamut of writing featuring work from 39 writers.”

Welsh writers featured in the book include Anthony Jones, Annie Bell-Davies, Chris Ozzard, Dominic Williams, Clare Scott, Simone Mansell-Broome and Paul Harris. Among the Irish writers are Billy Roche, Eion Colfer, Eamonn Wall, Stephen James Smith, Peter Murphy, Oran Ryan and Suzanne Power.

As always, the open mic sessions at The Cellar Bards on Friday are open to writers of poetry, short stories, micro-fiction and novels. Just put your name down at the door. If you don’t want to read, just go along and listen to a great variety of spoken word literature – from funny to sad to angry and fiercely political – by many talented writers.

Entry is £3. The event starts at 8pm. See The Cellar Bards Facebook page for more information.