Medway based literary organization Wordsmithery have announced the initial line-up for Medway River Lit 2024.
This is the second year of the festival after a successful launch year. The literary festival which brings international authors and local poets and writers together in readings, talks and workshops, takes place throughout November at various Medway venues and is part of Medway Culture Fest 24.
This year, producers Wordsmithery are excited to be bringing a stellar line-up of world-renowned writers to the festival, which has as its heart the theme of environment and climate crisis.
The festival kicks off with a launch event at Chatham Library on Friday 1 November, where you’ll have the chance to hear more about what’s on and try out some writing activities. Later that evening, at Coffee Republic in Chatham, there will be the first Poetry Friday of the festival, with Medway’s own Four Poets – Bill Lewis, Maggie Harris, Sarah Hehir and Barry Fentiman Hall. There will be environmentally-conscious goodie bags and book giveaways.
The first weekend of the festival (2/3 November) is headlined by Booker Prize-winning author Sir Ben Okri. Megan Hunter, writer of the book that was adapted into the film ‘The End We Start From’ and Chloe Timms will also talk about their climate themed novels. On the Sunday, for those who are interested in learning more about the craft of writing, we’ll have a Local Authors Book Fair, plus panels with publishers and on self-publishing.
The second weekend (9/10 November), we’ll be celebrating fandom and ‘90s indie music, with former lead singer of Carter USM, Jim Bob. He’ll be reading from his latest book ‘Where Songs Come From – The Lyrics and Origin Stories of 150 Solo and Carter USM Songs’. He’ll be accompanied by poet Sarah L Dixon, reading from her collection of ‘90s indie inspired poems, and festival co-director Sam Hall, talking about her fictionalized graphic memoir. On the Sunday, poetry legend John Agard will be in conversation with Melanie Abrahams. John Agard is a recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and was awarded BookTrust’s Lifetime Achievement Award in November 2021.
Saturday 16 November is our crime fiction and fact day. Thriller writer AA Chaudhuri, and the author of ‘Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths’, Caitlin Davies will both join us at Strood Library. On Sunday 17 November, we have two more writers of dystopian eco fiction – April Doyle and Thomas McMullan.
The fourth weekend of the festival, (23/24 November), features Carol Donaldson, Adam Taylor and Doctor Phil Smith, one of the originators of ‘mythogeography’ – a way of walking that transcends the physical act. If you’re interested in folklore and myths, this is the weekend for you. On Sunday, Sacha Coward will talk about his debut non-fiction book ‘Queer as folklore’.
The final weekend of the festival, (Friday 29/Saturday 30), will see a headline set from festival patron, award-winning poet Caroline Bird at Poetry Friday in Chatham. On Saturday, Ben Aaronovitch, the author of the bestselling ‘Rivers of London’ series, plus Tom Huddlestone who’ll be talking about ‘The Worlds of Dune’, Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi series.
Throughout the month, we’ll also be running Writing Masterclasses, a regular poetry evening event on Fridays and panels where you’ll be able to ask writers questions about the craft of writing.
The full programme plus booking will be announced in October.
For more information see the Medway River Lit website – www.medwayriverlit.co.uk
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