Medway River Lit
"I thought Medway River Lit Festival thoughtful, thought-provoking, kindly in spirit and invaluable for the region." Sir Ben Okri
PROGRAMME: MONDAY 5 JUNE
Today, you can find some early morning writing inspiration, followed by our authors exploring some familiar and not so familiar places in Kent.
Adventures in Time and Space
WORKSHOP: 11am-1pm.
Rochester Cathedral, Rochester Kent, ME1 1SX
Performance poet and facilitator Naomi Wood leads us on this pre-bookable writing workshop seated at the 5,000-year-old Fenland Black Oak Table.
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This will be a unique experience; to participate in a creative writing workshop seated at the 5,000 year-old Fenland Black Oak table within Rochester Cathedral! This will be a truly enchanting inter-disciplinary exploration of time and passage, and how objects and materials retain and tell those stories. Open to all abilities of writing, we will consider how writing is, also, a form of preservation and the way we use our imagination can be a way of celebrating parts of the past and creating the future!
Please bring a notebook and pencil or biro (not ink pen).
Free. Book via Eventbrite.
There is access for wheelchairs through the North door into the Nave. There are WCs for people with disabilities in the Cathedral (by the South Door).
Please be aware that the Cathedral is a medieval building. Areas of the Cathedral have low lighting and uneven flooring.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway
Rochester Cathedral Tours
TOUR: 10.30AM. Monday and Tuesday.
Rochester Cathedral, Rochester Kent, ME1 1SX
Textus Roffensis & the Cathedral Collections
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Textus Roffensis has just been awarded UNESCO status and is the jewel in the Cathedral collection. This tour explores the origins of the book and includes a chance to see other treasures from the Cathedral’s library collection.
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Duration 1 hour. Cost £8.80 per person. Max 10 people per tour.
All tours must be pre-booked at the Cathedral shop or via the website www.rochestercathedral.org
There is access for wheelchairs through the North door into the Nave. There are WCs for people with disabilities in the Cathedral (by the South Door).
Please be aware that the Cathedral is a medieval building. Areas of the Cathedral have low lighting and uneven flooring.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway
Neil Nixon
AUTHOR TALK: 6-7pm.
The GlassBox Theatre, MidKent College, Medway Rd, Gillingham ME7 1FN
Neil Nixon is an author, journalist and academic. His published works include titles on the paranormal, popular music, football and two novels published under the name of Stanley Manly. In 1999, he founded the United Kingdom's first full-time higher education course in Professional Writing. He's also written scripts for television and radio, including his radio play 'Mr. Lennon', which was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Single Drama.
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He'll be talking about his latest book, which launches today at Medway River Lit; 'Why Mystery Matters', which argues the value for anyone of engaging with subjects beyond their understanding.
Refreshments will be available to purchase from the theatre.
Free. Book with the GlassBox.
Wheelchair accessible from car park to theatre. Please email the college if you have any additional requests.
Nearest bus stop: Medway Park War Memorial
Carol Donaldson
AUTHOR TALK: 7-8pm.
The GlassBox Theatre, MidKent College, Medway Rd, Gillingham ME7 1FN
Carol Donaldson is a nature writer, and environmental consultant. She'll be talking about her book 'On the Marshes: A Journey Into England's Waterlands'.
When Carol walked across the marshlands of north Kent, travelling from Gravesend to Whitstable, she was still coming to terms with being evicted from her home and the break-up of a long-term relationship. What begins as a walk away from her troubled past becomes a journey of self-discovery, a pilgrimage in search of people who have chosen to live on the edge of England in this lovely, beautiful waterland.
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Refreshments will be available to purchase from the theatre.
Free. Book with the GlassBox.
Wheelchair accessible from car park to theatre. Please email the college if you have any additional requests.
Nearest bus stop: Medway Park War Memorial
Patrick Wright
AUTHOR TALK: 8-9pm.
The GlassBox Theatre, MidKent College, Medway Rd, Gillingham ME7 1FN
Patrick Wright is a writer, broadcaster and academic in the fields of cultural studies and cultural history. He has written for many journals and newspapers, including The Guardian, and presented the BBC2 series ‘The River’, about the River Thames, in 1999. He is a former presenter of Radio 3's arts programme Night Waves.
He is the author of several books, many of which explore themes connected to England and Englishness, Psychogeography and cultural history, including The Village That Died for England and A Journey through Ruins: The Last Days of London.
He'll be talking about his latest book, 'The Sea View Has Me Again: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness', which explores the East German writer Uwe Johnson and his unexpected residence on the Isle of Sheppey between 1974 and his death in 1984.
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Refreshments will be available to purchase from the theatre.
Free. Book with the GlassBox.
Wheelchair accessible from car park to theatre. Please email the college if you have any additional requests.
Nearest bus stop: Medway Park War Memorial