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Help fund Medway River Lit 2025 published their Delivery Report!5 months ago
By Medway River Lit - a literary festival with a focus on the climate crisis
Help us expand our amazing programme for Medway River Lit festival 2025 with FREE option on all tickets
About the festival Help us bring back Medway River Lit festival for its third outing in November. The festival is produced by Wordsmithery, an award-winning Medway based literary producer, with seed funding from Medway Council. We have collected feedback to ensure our festival is co-created by the community – including activities such as a poetry slam and a Local Author Bookfair. All these activities are offered on a Pay What You Can basis to attendees. Throughout November, we will run an amazing festival programme with writing and literary workshops, talks and panels for adults and young people. We will host talks from renowned writers and showcase Kent and Medway’s very own writers, but we need help to increase what we can offer. The festival continues to grow in reputation and stature with audiences of over 1,750 in person last year. In an area of low literacy and low arts engagement, Medway River Lit is an essential ingredient for wellbeing, increased aspiration, and literacy.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
Medway River Lit is good for writers, readers, the local community and the local economy. Medway River Lit festival offers multiple opportunities for people of all ages to engage with the arts in new ways, including the merging of participatory crafts and literature. Our Youth Laureate Programme provides opportunities for young people and their families to engage, as well as gain crucial experience of working in the arts. Our Local Writer Development Workshops focus on helping Medway-based writers improve their craft. The world-famous writers that Medway River Lit brings to perform in Medway increase footfall to local businesses and increase arts engagement in the region. Medway River Lit aims to improve both literacy and wellbeing through getting people involved in reading and writing, at all ages. Combatting loneliness is key to wellbeing and our project is building a community of supportive like-minded people of all ages.
Steps to get it done:
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Whoop, 10 people have pledged since fundraising began!
How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees) £23,959
Costs Breakdown
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Overfunding
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Target (inc. fees) £23,959
Our Volunteer List
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VolunteerMedway River Lit is the first literary festival for all of Medway in 25 years! Running since 2023, we are now programming our third year's festival to run in November 2025. It's produced by Medway-based literary organisation, Wordsmithery, in partnership with a range of local arts producers and organisations.
Medway River Lit is more than just a gathering of book lovers, it is a celebration of storytelling, creativity, and the vibrant cultural tapestry of the Medway Towns, with the aim of becoming a regular cornerstone for authors, poets and readers; transforming the region into a hub of literary exploration and inspiration. Our month of literary creativity contributes to wellbeing at a deep level.
It ought to be apparent to any arts organisation that a global climate emergency is a reality. Medway River Lit are making plans to address that locally in any way possible. We are small but we must do what we can. We will use our programme to model change and to tell stories that respond to the world we’re living in in this moment. We are working towards becoming a carbon neutral festival by 2020. This year our theme is 'Earth, Air, Fire and Water' and we'll be inviting authors whose work addresses this theme, as well as authors whose work doesn't.
We are known for programming a mix of internationally known writers: such as, Sir Ben Okri, Ben Aaronovitch, Caroline Bird, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Martin Figura, Helen Ivory, Patience Agbabi, JimBob, Megan Hunter, John McCullough, Theresa Lola; alongside local talents, such as Billy Childish, Bill Lewis, Maggie Harris, Sarah Hehir, Pauline Holmes, Michi Masumi and Maria McCarthy.
With seed funding from Medway Council to support core festival programming, we are now looking for additional funders to help expand what we can offer to our loyal audience.
"I thought Medway River Lit Festival thoughtful, thought-provoking, kindly in spirit and invaluable for the region" – Sir Ben Okri
“An ace gig - up there with the best experiences we’ve had on the tour” – Martin Figura
“A wonderfully creative event” – Adam Taylor
“Medway River Lit 24 was adorable and everything I love about the poetry community. Intimate, earnest, a celebration of sharing our vulnerabilities with lightness” – Lalah-Simone Springer
“I felt so relaxed and had a lovely time! You run an absolutely spiffing festival, I'm so glad for it, and hope to come again next year, either attending or participating or both!” – Zahra Barri
Project Owner: Medway River Lit - a literary festival with a focus on the climate crisis The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
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