The Admiral's Tea Party

One thing that seems to slip many peoples minds is that the majority of Chatham dockyard is based in neighboring Gillingham (New Brompton).

From the beginnings of old Gillingham as a fishing village, there has been a strong naval tradition in the area. You can imagine there is a lot of naval history that is unknown about the area, or not widely known. One of the most surprising things that I have found out is that the Admiral of the whole British fleet held "fabulous" tea parties on the lawn of his residence on the lower lines park. (I'm still quite surprised that he lived in Gillingham).

To celebrate and illuminate this history, Sam of Wordsmithery fame is helping local people create a show commissioned as part of the Paint The Town Festival to be performed at the Lower Lines Park in Gillingham on Saturday, 8 July.

A day-long workshop is planned at the Brook Theatre on Saturday, 24 June for people who would like to take part. To book or for further info contact wordsmithery.info@gmail.com

See this article about the Great Lines Admiral's Gardens by the Kent Gardens Trust

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 Launch Party - 28 August

Confluence is being launched soon - where the Delta meets the world...

Come join us for a smorgasbord of verbal delights Sunday, 28 August at Only Connect 32 Cubitt Street, London, WC1X 0LR

It's FREE and with an open mic available on the night ready to be filled.

We'll be using material from our debut edition, but we'll be looking for contributions for our second edition, due October 2016...

Confluence Medway - online
Confluence Medway - Facebook

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

Roundabout nights - ME4

Fasten your seat belts - the ME4Writers are ready to spin your head clean off!  Not content with assembling some Judicious Heritics- Medway's answer to the Avengers, they have set up the Roundabout nights @the Alexandra pub in Chatham

Roundabout nights is an ambitious live literary night, with an ever-revolving series of events. Once a week, every week on a Monday night. 7pm-10pm, the ME4Writers will host an event highlighting the spoken word. Here is a line-up of the next few meetings:

~ 1 September: She Writes – short plays about holidays

~ 8 September: Type’n’gripe at ME4-rum

~ 15 September: Spoken word

~ 22 September: Guest slot: Politics, plays and policies. Plays inspired by political themes

~ 29 September: She Writes – plays on a Byronic theme

~ 6 October: Type’n’gripe at ME4-rum

The roundabout nights are hosted upstairs at the Alex pub, unfortunately this is not yet wheelchair accessible.

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...

Stagetime 2015 - East 15 Playwriting Competition

East 15 Acting School is looking to produce a new writing play as part of their series of BA Acting final year performances in May/June next year. This play will be performed a minimum of two times at a London theatre during the summer 2015 term by a company of final year BA Acting students.

Credit: M Connors

For more details see their website here: http://www.ideastap.com/Opportunities/Brief/Stagetime-2015-East-15-Playwriting-Competition-300414#Overview

Best of luck!

Playella - a play in 12 lines

There's an interesting opportunity coming up from Descent theatre. They are offering people the chance to write a play in 12 lines, or less, of dialogue.

Is this possible? There are some examples on the Descent Blog

My favourite so far is I'd Rather You Didn't by Emma Franieczek. It reflects a common enough experience, and it's good to see the story told.

What do you think - how much do you need to tell a story? Can a story really be this simple, without being oversimplified?

The next submissions window for shorts is 4-17 November, and their submission guidelines are available online here: http://descenttheatre.co.uk/get-involved/submission-guidelines/

Seasonally Effected Open Mic

If I were to call Seasonally Effected an open mic, it wouldn't even begin to do the concept justice.

Hold on, Mike...

The Seasonally Effected evening is an open house of creativity. A place for people to share ideas in whatever form they'd like to: music, poetry, art, comedy, writing, history, film, photography...

Fancy giving it a go? As you can guess from the name, you can do anything you want so long as it's connected to "the time of year". This can be interpreted in any way you like. No two evenings will be the same. You can book 10 minute spots by emailing: seasonallyeffected@gmail.com

I am going to do something at the next gig, at the Dot Cafe in Rochester on Wednesday, 24th April. It starts at 6.30pm and runs until about 9. See you there.....?