If you've looked out of the window over the past few years, or watched any television news report, you won't have failed to notice that the world's climate has been changing fast.
This year's edition of Medway River Lit, on dates during November 2024, will invite writers who are asking questions, writing fiction about and offering solutions to Climate Change.
We are currently inviting writers and thinkers, and will be running some sustainable projects in the months leading up to the festival. We'll also be starting a podcast! All this with our usual mix of writing workshops, genre writers, festival collaborations with local arts organisations, talks, events and more as part of our Medway-wide writing festival.
Follow this blog to be the first to hear about our progress.
SOME FACTS
In 2022, the UK experienced a spell of 'Historically Significant Heat' that, according to the Met Office, 'are the only occasions when 38°C has been recorded in the UK in observations extending back to the mid-19th century,' and the first time 40°C has been recorded in the UK. (Read more on the Met Office website.)
In the past ten years, the news has been full of images of many other areas of the world burning, whilst often in the UK, we've been experiencing more local flooding. According to NASA, 'the 10 most recent years are the warmest years on record'. (Read more on NASA's website.)
According to the United Nations (UN) 'Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.' (Read more on the UN website.)
What can we do now to reverse this?
How can individuals play their part in helping to secure a future that isn't a scorched or flooded planet?
YOU ARE HERE: We all write our own stories, we can change how they end.
This year's Medway River Lit, hopes to provoke discussion and look at how solutions to the Climate Crisis can be accessible to everyone.
Our festival artwork this year has been designed by Karen Scudder, a local Medway artist.