Poets wanted

London 2012: Worldwide poets still needed for Festival event

Jo Shapcott won the Costa Book Prize earlier this year

More than 20 writers are still needed for an event to include a poet from every nation competing in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The Poetry Parnassus will take place on London's Southbank at the end of June.

Organisers have already signed up 153 poets, with another 28 being confirmed, but still need writers from 23 countries including Mali and Liberia.

Writers already confirmed include Jang Jin Seong - former court poet to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.

He fled the regime and now resides in South Korea.

Jo Shapcott will represent Great Britain, while Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney will represent Ireland.

The event, the UK's largest poetry project, is part of the London 2012 Festival.

Read the bull BBC story