Tag: creatives

#RLF2016: Written Worlds, Inspiring Places

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For some strange reason 5 years ago, I decided to start a literature festival. Possibly I had too much time on my hands (I didn’t) possibly I just felt we were lacking a festival in Medway dedicated to writing, and somebody had to do it. I must’ve been mad, and I’m also stubborn, so here we are: the fourth Rochester Literature Festival 2016 kicks off this weekend.

Amidst the usual creative writing workshops, Cafe Crawl and author talks this year, the RLF has a wonderful day of craft activities planned for all ages.

‘The Turtle Moves‘, inspired by Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, sees a Juvenile Crafters’ Guild appear, as if by magic, in Rochester’s Community Hub, where you can design your own Luggage or bring to life a Golem, among other activities. Out and about in the high street you’ll bump into numerous characters – and even see a re-enactment of the Battle of Koom Valley! And shhhhh – it’s rumoured that the Librarian will be appearing in L-Space (Baggins!)

RLF Patron Lisa Cutts is appearing at Strood Library on Oct 4, alongside fellow crime author Simon Booker, while author of The Outlaw Chronicles, Angus Donald, is at Rochester Library on Oct 6. There is also a Local Author Day at Rochester Library between 10am-2pm on Oct 1.

The popular Cafe Crawl takes place on Sunday, Oct 2 and features the Canterbury Yarners, Fiona Sinclair, Nancy Charley, Johanna Coulson and Maggie Butt alternating at Bruno’s Bakes, The Quills and Cafe @172 between 12-3pm.

The festival opens with three creative writing workshops on Saturday, Oct 1: An Introduction to Screenwriting, A Guide to Self Publishing, and Building Your Make Believe World. It ends with a Writers’ Retreat on Sunday, Oct 9.

All the events apart from the workshops are free, and more detail and tickets for the workshops can be booked here.

If you pop down, be sure to say ‘hi’ 🙂

Seasonally Effected Cultural Open Mic

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The next Seasonally Effected session is at Cafe 172 (formerly Dot Cafe) on Wednesday, April 30th from 7pm.

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Expect an eclectic mix of poetry, song, storytelling and more – and get there early to bag a seat, because there was barely standing room available last month.

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Photo: Nikki Price

A rapper and beat boxer over from Sheppey joined in what was considered the Best SE Ever, particularly with the impromptu group chorus of Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley’s, not Handel’s). And a new genre was born, with Thomas and Umpdeep now much in demand for their combination of spoken word and drum beats.

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Slots are fully booked for this month but if you’d like to take part next time, contact Roy Smith via email seasonallyeffected@gmail.com. Podcasts of previous sessions can be found here: http://seasonallyeffected.wordpress.com/

Roy is running a free workshop on Thursday evening, May 1st (7pm, coFWD) for any artists, writers or creatives interested in working on his augmented reality game ‘ The Real Medway & Swale’  – contact him at realmedwayandswale@gmail.com.

Photo: Nikki Price

Photo: Nikki Price

Programme Manager at Future Creative required

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Are you an excellent manager of projects and people?  Do you thrive in a target driven environment?  Are you able to grow and adapt to meet challenges?  Are you inspired by creating programmes that develop communities and support young people to reach their full potential?  Then this job could be for you…

Future Creative is recruiting a Programme Manager to lead their key youth development programme.  You will be responsible for achieving targets set by the national programme in their area, and developing and monitoring delivery of the programme to ensure goals are met.  You’ll lead a team of staff and freelancers across the region, identifying opportunities for maximising potential to achieve the highest quality of programme delivery.

The post holder will need to be a strategic leader with energy and enthusiasm to meet demanding targets as well as being flexible and adaptable to change.  You will work across the education, community, voluntary and business sector to widen the reach and impact of their programmes.

Full time – Monday to Friday (with some evenings and weekends) based in Deal, Kent (with travel in the SE and East regions)

£22 – £24,000 dependant on experience

6 month probation period

Application deadline: 5pm Friday 25th April 2014

Please email wendy@future-creative.org to request an application pack.

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Hear that lion roar!

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Yep, that would be me! I recently took part in a sweding workshop at coFWD,  the coworking space at 161 Rochester High Street, and brilliant fun it was too! The awesome Sophie and Mdhamiri led us through it, overseeing roles such as Director and Location Manager, although we all mucked in with props and sound effects. This is the result – you can also see photos on the coFWD blog.

Sweding is becoming more and more popular – basically taking your favourite movie or trailer and remaking it from scratch, sourcing all your own props and creating your own scenery and locations. This is the Skyfall teaser trailer we used – why not get a bunch of mates together, take your pick from all those fantastic movies out there and give it a go?

If you’re in Medway and you don’t have a bunch of creatives to hook up with, you’ll find some of the coFWD community at the Deaf Cat in Rochester High Street on Monday morning, from 9.30am. Otherwise known as Tuttle, it’s a chance to mingle with a bunch of like minded souls, bounce a few ideas around over a coffee and otherwise chill out in company who might just spark a few ideas inside you. See you there 🙂