Metal

Over what turned out to be a dramatic and stormy sea weekend weatherwise in Southend on Sea, Metal's first Literature Festival of the Sea, Shorelines, in Solomon Monks Pump House in July 2011, was no less awe inspiring than the real waves pounding the shore outside. Opening with a heart-wrenching reading from Veronique Olmi's 'Beside the Sea' on the Friday evening by the actress Lisa Dwan - readings from Sjon (From the Mouth of the Whale), Roma Tearne (The Swimmer) andThomas Joshua Cooper (The Atlas Project) kept the packed house spell-bound, whilst Lara Fiegel (Modernism on Sea) and Sue Jones (Whitstable Biennial) took us on a coastal journey of visual art, poetry and design around the UK, with Southend making its own significant contribution.

Sunday saw a powerhouse panel of Iain Sinclair (Ghost Milk); Robert MacFarlane (The Wild Places) Jay Griffiths (Wild) Yang Lian (Where the Sea Stands Still) Stephen Watts (The Blue Bag) and Rachel Lichtenstein (On Brick Lane) and talking about their relationship both professionally and personally to the Sea.  As well as contributions from Syd Moore (The Drowning Pool), Tom King (The Thames Estuary Trail) Paul Gilson (Tales of a Leigh Fisherman) and Shaun Levin.

All in all a thought-provoking and inspiring weekend. Download the full programme as a PDF here.

Friday 15th July

7-10PM - Salon: Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi - (Periene Press) – A dramatic reading from the critically acclaimed, haunting book, Beside the Sea, by actress Lisa Dwan, followed by a panel discussion with Suzi Feay (literary critic) and Adriana Hunter (author and translator). Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park Cost: Tickets £8.00 (including light meal and drinks)

Saturday 16th July

12 -12.45PM – Roma Tearne: The Swimmer – Sri-Lankian born artist and writer discusses her latest novel and film The Swimmer, set in Orford, on the East Anglian coastline, exploring themes of love and loss. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

1 -1.45PM – From the Mouth  of The Whale - Icelandic author Sjon (winner, Nordic Council’s Literature Prize) talks about his latest novel; a magical, comical and poignant book, set in C17th Iceland, a place darkened by superstition, pover ty and cruelty, inhabited by poets, healers, unicorns and whales. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

2 – 2.45 PM – Art and Culture at  the British Seaside – Lara Feigel, co-editor of the acclaimed non-fiction book, Modernism on Sea: Art and Culture at the British Seaside, takes us on a virtual tour of the U.K. coastline, pointing out artists, poets and writers on the way, including Virginia Woolf, Gracie Fields, Benjamin Britten and John Betjeman. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

2 – 4PM – Beside the Seaside: Exploring the Sea through Writing. Creative writing workshop with author Shaun Levin looking at the Sea in our personal and cultural lives, from psychology and dream interpretation, to fairy tales, history, whales and sunny beaches. Venue: Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE – Booking essential as places limited to 15. Adult writers and poets  of all levels welcome

3 – 3.45PM – Contemporary Art  and the Sea – Sue Jones, director of the Whitstable Biennale, talks about modern art and the sea. A visual presentation, originally commissioned for the new Turner Contemporary in Margate. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

4 – 5.15PM – The Atlas Project - One of the foremost photographers of our time, Glaswegian based American Thomas Joshua Copper, talks about his twenty-one year epic project to photograph the Atlantic Basin, which has taken him to the Arctic, South Africa, Scandinavia and beyond. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

8 – 10PM – The Rime of  the Ancient Mariner - An adaptation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem with poet Lemm Sissay, Southend choirs and music written by members of Bellowhead. Originally commissioned by Southbank Centre. Directed by Jude Kelly OBE. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £8.50

Sunday 17th July

12 – 12.30PM – The Sea Witch of Leigh on Sea - Local author Syd Moore talks about her for thcoming book, The Drowning Pool, and the legends surrounding Essex witches and the lady smuggler of Leigh. Featuring folk songs. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

12.30 – 1PM – Thames Estuary Trail: A Walk Around the End of the World – Tom King, Southend – journalist, walker and author, talks about his writing and many journeys into the wild places beside the Essex shoreline. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT. N.B.  For a sample of Tom's recommended walks around the Essex coastline including the maps, please click here.

1 – 1.30PM – Tales from a Leigh Fisherman Paul Gilson, who like his grandfather and father before him, has worked as a f isherman in Leigh-on-sea, talks to local writer and publisher Audrey Snee about life on the seas and his role as the skipper of the Endeavour, one of the ‘Dunkirk Little Ships’. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

1.30 – 3PM - Poetry of the Sea – Stephen Watts – nationally renowned poet and translator reads from his own work and others on the theme of the sea. Yang Lian – the internationally acclaimed Chinese poet performs from his best known collection of short poems and sequence. Where the Sea Stands Still. The Sea, The Coast, The Littoral – poems and lyrics with Essex poet Adrian Green and friends.  Reading of the poetry competition winners. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

3 – 5.45PM – Contemporary British Authors on Sea: Iain Sinclair, Jay Griffiths, Robert Macfarlane and Rachel Lichtenstein – An extraordinary afternoon, with multiple award winning cult British authors Iain Sinclair, (Dining On Stones, Downriver) Jay Griffiths (Anarchipelago, Wild) and Robert Macfarlane (The Wild Places, Mountains of the Mind), who will join artist and writer Rachel Lichtenstein, to speak about the sea as a theme in their writing. Followed by a short break and then a panel discussion with the above and poets Yang Lian and Stephen Watts. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

6 – 6.30PM – Ernest Hemingway and Me – In this personal journey of exile, erotica and the creative urge, writer Shaun Levin examines the profound differences between sea and seaside in the novels of Hemingway and in his own recent work. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £5

8 – 10PM – The Old Man and the Sea – The must-see, award-winning adaptation of Hemingway’s world renowned novella by Magpie Blue Productions. Adapted by Rob Young, directed by Laura Casey, with Musical Direction by Ross Lorraine. Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park. Cost: £8.50

Family Activities

10AM – 12NOON (SAT 16 & SUN 17 BOTH DAYS) – A morning of children’s films: adaptations of classic literature about the Sea - Venue: Solomon Monk’s Pump House, Chalkwell Park - Cost: FREE EVENT

11AM – 4PM (SAT 16 & SUN 17TH) – Workshops, book swaps, reading room and storytelling: at various times throughout the day from Beach Huts in Chalkwell Park and Southend High Street. Venue: Beach Hut – top of Southend High Street. Beach Hut in Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

12 – 1.30PM (SAT 16 & SUN 17TH) – The Estuary Project: art based workshops for children run by ar tists Ben Eastop and Simon Callery. FREE – booking essential as places limited to 15 (ages 10 – 16). Venue: Beach Hut in Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

5.30 – 7PM (SUNDAY ONLY) – The Tempest – An open air production of The Tempest by the Southend Shakespeare Company. Venue: The Meadow Field, Chalkwell Park. Cost: FREE EVENT

ALL DAY   (FRI 15 /SAT 16 /SUN 17)

Book Crossing: connecting people through books. Metal will be releasing 100 books about the Sea into the urban environs of Southend to join the 8million other books that form par t of the global bookcrossing phenomenon.  If you f ind a book, please feel free to read it, log it on www.bookcrossing.com and then pass it on to another reader by leaving it at another public place. Venue: various sites around Southend. Cost: FREE EVENT

Chalkwell Pop up Café - Homemade food and drinks was available throughout the festival from catering duo Fiona Magill & Sarah Williams. Bookstall by Hoxton Books. Selling the work of featured authors and a selection of books with watery themes. Open all weekend, by the café.

Sea Poetry competition - Southend school children were invited to submit their poems about the sea to Poetry competition, Metal, Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Ave, Essex, SSO 8NB. The winning entries were read out as part of the festival on Sunday 17th July at 2.30pm. Local artworks of the sea – Opportunity for Essex artists to display and sell their work about the sea, coastline or Estuary.

Local artworks of the sea – Opportunity for Essex artists to display and sell their work about the sea, coastline or Estuary. A display of art about the sea on the railings near the cafe/bar area.