Despite having seven volumes of verse to his name and being labelled 'comedy's Poet Laureate', John Hegley prefers to think of himself as a bit of a comedian.

"I do write poems," he says, "but I do funniness as well. I'm a bit of both. I play the mandolin on stage as well, as some of my poems are songs, and so I'm a musician too."

The best-selling poet, who commands sell-out gigs at the Edinburgh Festival and has a Radio Four show, Hearing With Hegley, is headlining at Harrow's literature festival with his latest show, John's Journals but it took a change of outlook to get where he is today.

"In an early review of my poetry performances, the critic thought it was hilarious that I took myself so seriously," he explains. "I'd written something like, 'the human race is twisted, its perspectives are so wrong', and I was dead serious about it. But after that I gave free rein to the comedy instead."

The light-hearted approach has proved to be John's forte. Like Michael Rosen, Pam Ayres and Benjamin Zephaniah, his humorous, irreverant poems have won him many fans. Keeping his finger in a comedy pie, though, he regularly teams up with The League Against Tedium's Simon Munnery for a sketch-style show.

"I write about common things," he says. "Potatoes, spectacles, facecloths those sorts of things." As we talk he's trying to think about a poem about Harrow. "There once was a woman from Harrow / Who grew an exceptional marrow..."

He lists his inspirations as serious poets such as Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, but agrees his poetry is more accessible. "They appeal to the very young and the very old, as well as people in between," he says. "Parents bring their kids along to the show and some children hear about my poems in school, which is a nice thing."

He's travelled with his shows, which features poems about his boyhood ('once I asked my mum if she would shelter me / if I killed someone / She said that she would / but she wouldn't be very pleased about it'), weighing up cabbages at the greengrocer's and his visits to other countries, as well as new canine-themed poems from his latest volume, Dog.

"After Harrow I'm going to Australia," he says. "I went to Columbia got the best reaction. They loved the poems, especially one bit that went 'my doggy he don't wear glasses', for some reason."

Call 0220 8428 0124 to see John's Journals on March 22 at the Elliott Hall, Harrow Arts Centre, Uxbridge Road, Hatch End. Tickets are £10/£6.

Words live

Harrow's fourth literature festival, Words Live, begins on Monday and will run until March 24. The first event will take place at the Adult Learners Centre, Harrow College on Monday at 7pm with a talk by writer-in-residence Courttia Newland and poet John Wadell.

Other festival events for adults and children, which will take place at various venues in the borough, will include talks, readings, workshops, exhibitions, performances, writers' surgeries and lectures.

Local and national authors and poets will be involved, including Bernadine Everisto, Dotun Adebayo, Penny Faith, Myra Schneider and Matt Thorne.

For a programme, call the Arts and Leisure Service on 8424 1076.