Medway River Lit Presents: Poet Chika Jones hosts the very popular Medway Poetry Night, kicking off this year's Medway River Lit, with featured performer Astrid Solace. Chika is a performance poet living in Chatham, Kent. Endorsed by the Arts Council of England in 2021, he received the Global Talent Visa and relocated to the UK. [...]

Medway River Lit Presents: I Put a Spell on You - Romantasy Themed Panel Discussion. Three great writers in the genre discuss what it means to write Romantasy! Romantasy is one of the fastest growing modern genres. Blending high-stakes fantasy worldbuilding with central romance plots, our panel of romantasy writers will discuss the genre’s rise [...]

Medway River Lit Presents: A Celebration of Rosemary McLeish. An evening dedicated to our dear friend. Writer. Painter. All round work of art! Rosemary McLeish was a Kent-based poet and artist. In this celebration, we’ll hear work from Kent-based poets who were inspired by her, SM Jenkin, Setareh Ebrahimi and Clair Meyrick, plus launch a [...]

Medway River Lit presents: Poetry at the Pier Dorothy Lehane is a writer, interdisciplinary researcher, creative consultant, and editor with a passion for exploring the intersections of creativity, medical humanities, and science. Theresa Lola is a British Nigerian poet, writer, and artist. Her second poetry collection Ceremony for the Nameless won the 2025 Derek Walcott [...]

Medway River Lit Presents: Poetry at the Pier: John McCullough . Samatar Elmi / Barry Fentiman Hall Reckless Paper Birds was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2019 and won John McCullough the Hawthornden Prize in 2020. His latest collection Crowd Voltage addresses yearnings for community and probes fragmentation within groups and individuals. Samatar Elmi [...]

Medway River Lit presents: Pierfest! Line up line up for the day-long extravaganza at the intersection of words and music – Pierfest! Come for one event, or stay for them all, feel free to drop in and out, and do some creative activities with Puffing and Wooling from 12-4pm. 12pm - 4pm: A creative chillout session, [...]

Medway River Lit Presents: Big Trouble Big Trouble is the longest running Medway live lit night and something of a Kent legend. As well as the traditional open mic they have two great special guests. Rachel Long’s 2026 collection Sparrow On The Rooftop has been described as a study of toxic love, crisis and recovery, [...]