Where the Medway Delta meets The World....

Coming soon, Issue #4 of Confluence Medway... Where the Medway Delta Meets The World.

Portmeirion Estuary: S.M Jenkin

Issue #4 is shaping up well, prose and poems beautifully illustrated by Duncan Grant.

Submissions for Issue #5 are now open and the deadline is 12 July 2017. There is no theme so you can send any short stories/prose, short plays and poetry on any topic.

Only original unpublished work submitted by the author will be considered. If you would like your work to be considered for inclusion in the next edition, email your submission as an attachment to: confluencemedway(at)gmail.com with ‘POETRY / PLAY / STORY TITLE by NAME’ in the subject line. (Eg ‘6 poems by Wanda Wax’ / ‘Waiting for Charlie by Herbert Berry’.)

In your email please include your full contact details including postcode, and a short biography, no more than 50 words

More details about how to submit work to Confluence are available from the Confluence Blog.

Inspirational Nights - Let's play!

Join Lisa Vigour at the one and only interactive open mic night in Medway. Come to perform or to appreciate the silken words and notes woven onstage for your pleasure.

Can't think of anything to say or to play? Pick one of the prompts on a peg and get going, you may surprise yourself...

Inspirational Nights Rochester, Kent

Mics and PA are provided. There is a piano at the venue you'll be welcome to play. If you want to play another instrument please bring it. All performers at this event get a free drink...

The next Inspirational Night will be at the Northern Seaman on 18 May 2017, from 8.30pm onwards. The Northern Seaman is at 378 Rochester Highstreet, ME1 1DJ Rochester, Medway.

Inspirational Nights are held on the third Thursday of every month. It's a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Come and play.

Confluence Medway - looking for submissions

Confluence, where the Delta meets The World

Do you have poetry, short plays or short stories that you would like to share?  A new online writing magazine from the fabulous team at Wordsmithery is looking for contributions. They will publish four times a year (August, October, February and May)

The team are looking for submissions from "the Delta and beyond" - within a shout of "the river"

The topic for Issue one is "memento fluvium" or "remember the river". Be as free with this as you wish - the deadline is midnight on 15 July 2016

More details on how to submit work can be found here confluence medway - submissions

Wandering Words

I am very excited to see the blossoming of the Medway and Swale Wandering words  project.

A number of writers have, essentially, walked the land and created some beautiful and original pieces in response to what they have experienced and seen.

Urban Fox, Stood
Image credit:SM Jenkin

The range of responses has surprised me, as well as the flashes of unexpected beauty shared in words and posted on a map. Medway and Swale is made up of many different landscapes, histories, identities, ideas.

The best part, though? Anyone can join in. Are you feeling inspired? You can sign up here

The Big Draw

Do not fail, as you go on, to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and it will do you a world of good. Cennino Cennini

The Big Draw, the worlds biggest drawing festival has begun! There are many free or cheap activities happening around the world, between 01 October and 02 November

Image credit: Rcastillon

The festival exists to encourage people to draw, and if you look on the website there are any number of sensible reasons why. They talk about the economy, promoting visual literacy and efficiency.

But what else? Because it's fun. It's self expression. It's something that you can choose to do, in the way that you want to. Because.... 

That's why. Does it need to have a reason? 

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The Big Draw: http://www.thebigdraw.org/

Image sourced from Morguefile

An assemblance of judicious heretics…

The Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know are coming to Medway... and it is a work in progress

Image credit Doctor_Bob

As part of the Rochester literature festival, the ME4Writers are curating an intriguing exhibition, and they would like to invite you to take part. Are you interested?

The assemblance of judicious heretics is an open access collaborative project. The idea is to encourage artists of all styles to send in work to complement a series of writing pieces on the theme of Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know.

The exhibition will be displayed in Rochester during September and October. If you would like to know more, please see the details on the ME4Writers blog here. You don't have to be based in Medway, you can send in work as long as you can deliver the art to Rochester. 

Good luck!
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Image source: Morgue file.com

ME4Writers - Book jackets for books never to be written

The ME4Writers have shared a sneak peek of one of their works in progress. It goes by the intriguing title Book jackets for books never to be written

It's an on-going project that encourages collaboration between writers and artists, and the idea is to design a book cover for a book that will never get written.

I've seen some of the designs, and they are quite startling. Would you like to be involved? Either an an artist or writer, please give it a try. You never know what you are capable of until you do it.

If you would like to contribute either a book jacket blurb or design a cover, more information about the project is available on the ME4Writers blog here

Personally, I think it's quite sad these books will never be written, they're quite original...