Riversmeet focuses on high quality writing, performance and teaching which engages with contemporary issues by linking the past to the present.

In every era the attempt must be made anew to wrest tradition away from a conformism that is about to overwhelm it.
-Walter Benjamin 1940

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Productions

Several of our productions take on a contemporary issue. By exploring a parallel moment in history we hope to understand both the present and its roots in the past. All of our work confronts issues of urgent concern, from political surveillance and dissent to versions of democracy.

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Courses

The ‘slow learning’ approach to cultural products emphasises the place of process in education and gives each work and each reader the opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted without the pressure of acquiring a qualification.

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Publications

We are committed to publishing the best writing. That means that we are more interested in work we want to see in the public domain rather than work that may be commercially successful. We are always interested to hear from writers with projects that align with our values and ethos.

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What's new?

New Course: Middlemarch by George Elliot

Our new slow reading course on Middlemarch will explore some of the finest writing of the 19th century. Starts on the week commencing 14th September 2026.

Learn more here

New Play: October 2026

The Ocean Can Be a Bridge is our play about Frederick Douglass and the abolitionists in the South West of England. Click on the link below to see the next available dates.

Find out more here

New Blog: From New York to Marseille via Exeter

Richard Bradbury writes about how he became the guardian of a collection of author Claude Mckay's own books.

Read here