PROGRAMME: SATURDAY 10 JUNE
Medway River Lit is all about celebrating the literary legacy of Medway, as well as its present and future, so we are happy to be including performances for the Dickens Summer Weekend as part of the festival.
You will find information on the writers and events below.
Visit the Story Nook!
STORYTELLING: 11am onwards, see blackboards for times.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW and Eastgate House and garden, High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1EW (Weather dependent)
All weekend we will be joined by two wonderful storytellers, and we'd love for you and your family to visit them in our enchanted 'Story Nook' at Adult Education today to hear some stories for all ages!
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Belinda the Steampunk Storyteller (pictured), has a wide range of traditional, folk, historical, personal, modern, original and commissioned stories to her repertoire. Her performances are described as quirky, passionate, intelligent and thought provoking.
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Wilfred Lee tells tales of the dark, the funny, and the strange – from the soaring sagas of the Norse myths and Arthurian legends to real-life ghost stories, taking in traditional folklore and Victorian narrative poetry on the way. The stage name of the writer A W Earl, they have performed at Strumpshaw Tree Fair, various venues in Norwich, and have worked with both Forest Schools and the Break Charity, bringing traditional tales to audiences of all ages.
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Belinda and Wilfred will be performing alternatively on the main stage, in the Story Nook and at Eastgate House.
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
As historic buildings, some areas of Eastgate House have limited access, please check their Accessibility Statements for full details.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
Be a Dickens Detective
FAMILY GAME: 11am-12pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Dr Jeremy Clarke of the Guildhall Museum, will lead families in this fun, educational game, that is always very popular.
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A lively interactive session that allows participants to dip into Dickens’s novels and the Guildhall collection by matching quotations with museum objects. Enjoy as an individual or form a family team! No previous knowledge necessary.
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
Bridget Nolan
POETRY: 1-1.30pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Local poet Bridget Nolan, author of 'A Walk with Charles Dickens' and 'When Robert Burns Came to Tea', will perform some of her poems.
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Bridget Nolan explores the human experience in some unexpected ways. Her ability to stir emotions provokes thought, triggers laughter and occasions tears. From the comical title poem in her second anthology ‘When Robert Burns came to Tea’ to the heartbreaking ‘Why would I Imagine?’ Bridget presents a collection of stories in poetic form. In her varied style, she conveys myriad thoughts and feelings: the joy of love; the pain of a continuing sense of loss; the embarrassment of a hospital visit and the comfort of the natural world are all woven into the narrative of this diverse collection. Bridget's writing celebrates the human condition in all its shades of dark and light.
Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
Q+A with Gerald Dickens
Q+A: 2-3pm.
Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester, Kent ME1 1EW
We are delighted to bring Gerald Dickens to Eastgate House in advance of his appearance later today, for a Q+A session.
Gerald will be in conversation with Siân Thomas aka Spacegirl, poet, rapper, author, philosopher and humourist.
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Included with standard entry to the House.
Tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis, ticket price includes access to the rest of the house.
As a historical building, some areas of Eastgate House are not fully accessible, please refer to their accessibility information.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
(Gerald Dickens illustration by Karen Scudder.)
Nick Collins
AUTHOR TALK: 2-3pm.
The Royal Engineers Museum, Prince Arthur Rd, Gillingham ME7 1UR
For twenty-five years, Nick Collins was chief football reporter at Sky Sports and Sky Sports News, covering 11 major tournaments, 25 FA Cup finals and 272 England games (where he conducted the post-match interviews).
His first book, 'Fifty Cup Finals', was published in May 2018. 'Foot Soldiers', published in August 2020, is his first novel.
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'Foot Soldiers' is the story of The Royal Engineers football team. In their quest to land the sport's greatest prize, they face heartbreak, monstrous bad luck and tragedy.
It only seemed right that we would have Nick talking about his book about The Royal Engineers football team at The Royal Engineers Museum!
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Free. Pre-book via Eventbrite.
Most of the Museum is accessible, please refer to their accessibility information if you have any queries.
Nearest bus stop: King Charles Hotel, Prince Arthur Road
An Introduction to Steampunk
TALK: 3-3.30pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Katie Boorman, from Kent Steampunk group Great Kentspectations, will give a talk on what 'Steampunk' is and how it links to Victorian novelists including Charles Dickens!
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
(Photo of Katie by Nikki Price.)
Gerald Dickens
PERFORMANCE: 4.30-5.30pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Gerald Dickens, the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens is a firm favourite with Medway audiences. Gerald is an actor, director and producer. A fascination with the works of Charles Dickens led him to write and direct one-man theatrical shows based on the author’s works, including 'Nicholas Nickleby', which he will be performing for us today.
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
(Photo of Gerald Dickens by Nikki Price.)
Aidan Hehir
BOOK TALK: 6-7pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Dr Aidan Hehir is a lecturer in International Relations at the University of Westminster. He is the author/editor of eleven academic books. 'The Flowers of Srebrenica' is his first non-academic book.
His poetry has been published in various magazines including 'Bare Fiction' and 'Confluence' and his plays have been performed in London and Kent.
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The book is illustrated throughout by David Frankum.
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
(Proceeds from the book go to charity.)
Cole Moreton
BOOK TALK: 7-8.30pm.
Medway Adult Education, Community Hub, Eastgate, Rochester ME1 1EW
Cole Moreton is a writer and broadcaster. His BBC Radio 4 series 'The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away', which is also a book, won Audio Moment of the Year at the Arias and Best Writing at the World’s Best Radio Awards in New York.
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Cole was named as Interviewer of the Year at the Press Awards for his work with the Mail on Sunday. Cole has also written for The Telegraph, The Guardian and The Financial Times.
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He is the author of four non-fiction books including 'Hungry for Home', which was shortlisted for the prestigious John Llewelyn Rhys Prize for first book of any kind.
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Cole’s new podcast 'Can We Talk?' is a series of crafted short stories about encounters with remarkable people and what we can learn about how to live. He’ll be talking about his new book, 'Everything is extraordinary'.
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Free, no booking required.
Medway Adult Education is fully accessible.
Nearest bus stop: Rochester railway station
(Photo by Phil Burrowes.)