Rippling Out in words and pictures
- makeswordswork
- May 1
- 5 min read
Rippling Out was conceived as an engagement project to lead up to, and during Medway River Lit 2024, funded by the UKSPF fund, awarded by Medway Council. Due to the timing of the awarding process, we moved the project to a period after the main festival, continuing the environmental sustainability theme. We launched the project at Medway River Lit in November 2024 with headline environmental performer Sir Ben Okri. Sir Ben was showcasing his latest book Tiger Work, which is an anthology of stories, essays, and poetry about the climate crisis.
"I thought Medway River Lit Festival thoughtful, thought-provoking, kindly in spirit and invaluable for the region" Sir Ben Okri
Two strands - performances and workshops
The Rippling Out project consisted of two strands running from January to May 2025: Bringing provocative, environmentally conscious performers to an afternoon timeslot in an accessible venue; and, hosting a series of literary-adjacent creative workshops attracting a range of people.
We ran 7 workshops employing local creative facilitators: Phoetry (Poetry & photography with Michi Masumi), Poettery (Decorating ceramics with literature and art with CR Smith), Zine Trouble (making environmentally themed mini magazines with David Dykes and Skai Campbell), Dockyard Hidden Words (Making text and sketchbooks inspired by hidden words and stories in The Historic Dockyard with Sam Hall and Heather Haythornthwaite), and Remake, Repair, & Create (Making rubbish into various accessories and repairing/upcycling things that would otherwise be thrown away. With Heather Haythornthwaite making notebooks from scraps, Mel Carr making earrings from plastic bottles, and Rosie Atkinson teaching clothing repairs).
'I have converted a denim skirt into an apron, all in one session! Also a slim pencil case for my handbag, using a scrap of fabric and a zip from an old pair of shorts. I've had a lovely time. Thank you.' (Remake, Repair & Create)
‘This was a fantastic experience - I loved Michi’s welcoming, relaxing approach - a rich a sociable experience, helped with my wellbeing - and to make/strengthen my connections with the Medway area creatives’ (Phoetry)
An addition to the programme was a workshop for young people at Hundred Of Hoo Academy; the Head of English had heard about the festival and invited us to help facilitate a poetry session as part of their literature festival. The Medway River Lit team accompanied by a guest poet and two of our youth laureates attended a morning workshop. The students were engaged, and each given an environmentally themed poetry collection.
‘Indigo and Lydia’s insight as Youth Poet Laureate winners, along with Michi Masumi’s expertise, brought such a valuable perspective to the workshop. Their willingness to share their journeys into the creative world, discussing their inspirations, writing processes, and experiences, was incredibly inspiring for our students. It was wonderful to see them engage so deeply, not only in crafting their own poetry but in understanding the wider possibilities that creative writing can offer.’
The Rippling Out Sessions - accessible, provocative words
We started our Rippling Out Sessions with Sir Ben Okri’s appearance. We were able to publicise the Rippling Out project at events during that festival and in the programme.
The 5 Rippling Out Sessions after the festival were performative, running monthly from January to May 2025 - in a combination of spoken word performance (headliners Theresa Lola, John McCullough and local poets, Bethany Goodwill and Barry Fentiman Hall), comedy, drama and documentary, largely around an environmental theme (Kieran Poole - Milk. Eggs. Bread. Rosie Wilby - The Breakup Monologues, and, The Making of The Shadow Garden). These provided employment and showcases for local creatives (5) alongside nationally known (2) performers from outside Medway. These provocative performances were well attended and everyone commented on the good vibe.
‘I love listening to poetry and being with likeminded people. These events really create a community’ (John McCullough)
‘Kieran was very entertaining. Drawing attention to both environmental issues in the local area’ (Kieran Poole)
'Great event. Very intimate and warm event that helped listeners picture the wordplay and bring the imagery to life.' 'What a wonderful afternoon - felt so welcome and met old friends and new! Congrats to all the poets, long may it continue!' (Theresa Lola)
Rippling Out further
In addition to these planned events, we were also invited to be part of several other projects, which broadened our scope even further.
Chatham Historic Dockyard asked us to hold an exhibition of works created during our Hidden Words workshop entitled Particular Responses, which was well attended and participants were excited and proud to have their works displayed in the dockyard.
‘Each one is beautifully unique, so nice to see all the interpretations’ (Particular Responses)
The hosts of Zine Trouble invited us to partner on their poetry event 4th Coast at Chatham in March, which showcased three local writer’s new collections, enabling us to reach new and more diverse audiences.
Medway PlayLab CIC, another UKSPF funded project, had invited us to partner on their final on their final performance of their project, a rehearsed reading of the play Oil. The subject of the play dovetailed well with our environmental theme.
‘This was a really well-chosen play, which is so relevant and was a pleasure to hear out loud…It was intimate and heartfelt.’ (Oil)
Exceeding expectations
We believe that Rippling Out exceeded expectations. The interactive fusion of craft activities with writing inspiration increases the audience for our literature work, and publicises Medway River Lit and the other creative projects going on in Medway.
We were delighted to meet a majority of people we have not seen at our events previously, who overwhelmingly said that they would attend more Medway River Lit/Rippling Out events in the future. We also had people coming back from session to session. Audiences came from as far afield as Essex, London, Dartford, Sevenoaks, Canterbury, Thanet, and Maidstone. Several of our workshops were oversubscribed and we have been asked to run them again in the future by those who could not get in them.
People commented that their feelings of wellbeing were overwhelmingly improved by attending our Rippling Out events; past research points to creativity as a catalyst for wellbeing, and it was gratifying to see that reflected in the feedback that we received. We were also very pleased to be able to support the launching of the Sun Pier House Creation Space by having our events be used to test out the use of the new space, contributing to the local economy.
In addition to the usual posters and social media we also promoted the project on a podcast that we created for that purpose. (Listen to the podcast.)
The Making Of The Shadow Garden
We have one final event on Saturday 24 May - the world premiere of a video about Sarah Hehir's play The Shadow Garden. (Book here.)
‘The play’s immediate relevance, as we navigate Europe and the US’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, could hardly be clearer. This is a really bold excavation of war by a clearly talented playwright. It’s urgent and it demands to be told.’
The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022
In 1999, 15 members of the Bogujevci family were massacred in their garden in Kosovo. Twenty years later, Medway-based playwright Sarah Hehir (who also writes for The Archers) began the process of writing a play about the massacre. This final Rippling Out session will premiere a short documentary about the making of the play, plus a Q+A with Sarah.
... Did you come to any of our #RipplingOut events? Tag us in on your photos on Instagram!
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