A VOICE is to be given to the writer and poet Leonard Clark, who, though he published over 50 books, has often described as the “forgotten” man of Forest of Dean literature.

His work will be discussed in an evening of reminiscences about his life and work at Coleford Library next Tuesday (April 26, 7.30pm).

It will be the second of three talks about Forest authors organised by the University of Gloucestershire and the County Library Service. Previously Winifred Foley came under the microscope at a packed event held at Cinderford Library, while there is expected to be a huge demand for places at a talk about Harry Beddington planned for Cinderford next month.

All three writers had appeared together in a talk at Cinderford Library in March 1974, and it was as a result of that meeting that organisers Roger Deeks and Jason Griffiths thought, 40 years on, it was time to re-examine the impact of their work locally.

Leonard Clark, known in his youth as ‘Bob’, had lived at Belle Vue Road, Cinderford. He gained a scholarship to Monmouth School but returned to Double View to teach. He was a protégé of the Yorkley poet F W Harvey.

He left the Forest to further his career and became an inspector of schools. Throughout his life he continued to write and his huge output included A Fool in the Forest, a critically acclaimed autobiography of his early days in the Dean.

Forest poet Keith Morgan, who will contribute to the Coleford evening, describes Mr Clark, who died in 1981, as underestimated and one of the best writers to come from the district. The late Dennis Potter described him as the gentlest and most perceptive of Forest authors.

The Coleford event is free but people can register their interest by telephone (Dean 8333510).