PROGRAMME: FRIDAY 9 JUNE
Today we are mostly exploring the marriage of words and images in comics and graphic novels.
You will find information on the writers and events below.
Manga and Anime Workshop
WORKSHOP: 12-1pm. The Guildhall Museum, 17 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
Join artist Nadia Perrotta, the leader of the 'My Manga Medway' project on display in Chatham Library throughout the festival, in a workshop learning to create your own manga and anime-style characters.
Nadia is a multimedia storyteller who created 'House of Stars', a platform and safe hub for young people and creatives to work together, express themselves freely and connect supporting each other through art and music.
Refreshments will be available.
Free, no booking required.
As an historic building, some areas of the Guildhall Museum have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statement for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station
Superhero Workshop
WORKSHOP: 1.30-2.30pm. The Guildhall Museum, 17 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
Learn how to create and draw your own superheroes with comic artist Nick Ashton, in this workshop suitable for all ages.
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Nick Ashton is a professional designer, illustrator and animator with 15 years of experience within the entertainment industry. He has worked with hundreds of international films, including The Hobbit films, the Harry Potter franchise and several Dreamworks animated titles. He is part of the Kent Illustration Network, (KIN), whose Medway River Lit exhibition 'Monsters of the Deep' will be displayed at Chatham Library, throughout the festival.
Refreshments will be available.
Free, no booking required.
As an historic building, some areas of the Guildhall Museum have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statement for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station
Wallis Eates
AUTHOR TALK: 3-4pm. The Guildhall Museum, 17 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
Wallis Eates graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2001. She is an autobiographical comic creator who works collaboratively with community groups. She has produced comics with prisoners, adults with dementia, amateur boxers and brain injury survivors. She also runs workshops and is a committee member of LDComics, leading in the 'Safe Space for Hard Stories' initiative - an online reflective practice group for autobiographical comic makers.
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Wallis will talk about her own journey of making autobiographical comics.
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Refreshments will be available.
Free, no booking required.
As an historic building, some areas of the Guildhall Museum have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statement for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station
Sayra Begum
AUTHOR TALK: 4-5pm. The Guildhall Museum, 17 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
We are pleased to welcome graphic novelist Sayra Begum to Medway River Lit.
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Sayra Begum is an illustrator based in Nottingham who also teaches at Falmouth and De Montfort University. She released her debut graphic novel, 'Mongrel' in 2020 (supported by ACE, published by Knockabout). 'Mongrel' is "a magical story and a stunning debut" about a young Muslim woman growing up in modern Britain.
Begum has contributed to the '10 Years to Save the World' comic anthology and taken part in the Comics Cultural Exchange Residency in Prague. In her upcoming residency with New Art Exchange, Begum will be exploring secular and religious Pilgrimages in the form of gallery comics. She is interested in theology, our relationship to the environment, to each other and the reality that exists beyond our perception.
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Refreshments will be available.
Free, no booking required.
As an historic building, some areas of the Guildhall Museum have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statement for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station
Fumio Obata
AUTHOR TALK: 5-6pm. The Guildhall Museum, 17 High St, Rochester ME1 1PY
Graphic novelist Fumio Obata completes our graphic novel and comics speaker lineup at The Guildhall.
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Fumio is a comic book author whose work and inspiration come from cultural differences and social issues in his surroundings. He is also a visual artist in his own right.
Fumio was born in Tokyo and grew up with the manga and anime cultures of the 1970s and ‘80s. Always fond of drawing, at school his exercise books were always full of cartoon sketches. In 1991 he moved to the UK and has been living on British soil since then.
He studied BA Illustration at Glasgow School of Art and obtained a Master’s degree in Communication Design from Royal College of Art in London.
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Fumio's 2014 graphic novel 'Just So Happens' is a "delicate, intimate graphic novel explores the dead weight of parental expectation and the conflict of belonging". (The Guardian)
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Refreshments will be available.
Free, no booking required.
As an historic building, some areas of the Guildhall Museum have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statement for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station
Loop Dance presents...
DANCE: 7-9pm. The Historic Dockyard, Main Gate Rd, Chatham ME4 4TZ
Loop Dance Company is the resident dance company at The Brook Theatre in Chatham. The Artistic Director, Nina Atkinson, and six dancers create contemporary repertory work for touring, often working with internationally renowned guest choreographers.
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Loop also has an extensive dance education programme, for people who have never danced before, to professional dancers who want to perfect their skills. The company is supported by a team of administrative staff and a board of trustees.
Medway River Lit is sponsoring 20 free seats at this performance, so that attendees of the Festival have a chance to see the final dance piece inspired by Milan Kundera's 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'.
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Refreshments will be available to purchase from the cafe.
Free, booking required. Booking information to follow.
The Mess Deck is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Chatham Historic Dockyard
(Picture by Jason Pay.)
How to write for comics
MASTERCLASS: 6.30-8pm.
Venue to be confirmed.
Sayra Begum, the creator of graphic novel 'Mongrel' (extract pictured), leads this masterclass on how to start writing for comics.
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Sayra will cover scripting basics, comic conventions, and then thumbnailing.
There will be an activity where attendees are asked to write a four-panel comic and then create the thumbnails.
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Refreshments will be available.
Free, pre-booking required - booking information to follow.
Melissa Todd: NSFW
AUTHOR TALK (18+): 7.30-9pm. The Queen Charlotte, 159 High St, Rochester ME1 1EH
Melissa Todd is a writer and performer, director of Hags Ahoy theatre company and the former editor of the Broadstairs Beacon. She writes opinion pieces, book reviews and short stories, and has twice made the shortlist for Kent columnist of the year.
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Melissa is also a dominatrix. Her book, 'My Body is my Business', published in November 2021, follows the life of Clara – a fictionalised version of the author herself – as she travels through a 25-year career in the sex industry.
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Melissa will be reading extracts from 'My Body is my Business' and her latest short story collection, 'The Experiments and other stories'.
"A thrilling treatment of power, control, fear and pain, from a woman who knows."
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Free, no booking required.
The Queen Charlotte is a historic pub, some areas may have limited access, please contact them if you have any access queries.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester rail station