PEOPLE are being invited to take part in a communal reading of Homer's Odyssey, as re-told by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, in the amphitheatre, off Skipton High Street, on Saturday, June 3.

Organised by Skipton Civic Society, the reading will start at 10am and should finish by about 3pm say society members - with breaks for refreshments. The civic society, which is doing it to promote use of the amphitheatre public space, which is behind Pizza Express, is urging people to come along, to listen, or even to do a reading themselves.

Originally commissioned for BBC Radio, Yorkshire's Simon Armitage recasts Homer's classic epic as a series of dramatic dialogues. His version bristles with the economy, wit and guile expected from one of the most individual voices of his generation.

People can find out more about the communal reading by emailing: contact@civicsocietyskipton.org with the subject ""Odysseus"".