Meet the new Bard of Bath, Duncan Stacy-Marks who, at just 22, is the youngest person to be chosen for the prestigious office in its 13-year history.

Known as Master Duncan at the open mic cabaret and pub poetry sessions he has run in the city in recent years, and for his "short, sharp funny poems" and monologues, as well as his fundraising for local charities, he is extremely keen to promote the joys and benefits of the spoken word.

"It's a beautiful artform and not enough people know about," he said.

Duncan, who works as a screen printer, now plans a new showcase venue in Bath for performance poets, storytellers and musicians, and a website (www.masterduncan.com) to support his bardic role.

At the annual contest, which took place last weekend, entrants had to give a performance based on the theme of supersitition.

"I ended up winning, which was a bit of a surprise," Duncan told me. "I was really nervous.

"But now I'm the 13th bard and I'm absolutely loving it. I can't believe it. I'm absolutely over the moon, really. For me, it's such a sense of achievement, a proper milestone in the poetry I've been doing."

Duncan sees his role very much as promoting the history and culture of the Druidic bard tradition which he believes still has a special relevance today, although he sees bardship as having evolved and adapted to the modern day.

"There are three things people really want in life," he said.

"If the world was going to end, there'd be basically food, drink and entertainment. Food and drink you can sort out, but there aren't enough good entertainers. It's important for the bard to be able to entertain a crowd and work them and get them absolutely loving you and warm to you on stage."

Duncan compares his role to that of the Poet Laureate, in terms of chronicling events: "I think it's the bard's role to chronicle events in Bath. If something big happens, it's his responsibility to write a piece and capture the feelings of the city."

As well as getting people to talk about local issues and "make a difference", Duncan wants to involve more young people in the bardic ethos.

"A lot of my mates didn't know what it was," he said. "Young people need to know about these things."

So, look out for Master Duncan the bard in coming weeks and months. "I'm usually gigging about, and more than happy to talk with anyone about anything," he added, "to chat the world's woes away and all that sort of thing in the poetic style."