WHhen poet Michael Rosen writes for children, there are, necessarily, set parameters.

Writing for adults is a different matter. "Adults are beyond shock - you should be able to write about anything for them," he told his attentive audience on Saturday.

Carrying The Elephant is Rosen's third collection for adults. In it, he captures fragments of many lives, including family, friends, lovers, and, most tellingly, his son, Eddie, who died of meningitis aged 18.

The profoundly-moving pieces about Eddie's death have been described by some as the defining moment of the book.

Each of the 72 prose poems is like a snapshot of a moment in time. Reading them aloud, he conjures up scenes as if you were seeing them for real.

His performance here, like his poems, gave both great pleasure and pause for thought.