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
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.
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.
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 accord with our general ideas.
We received the very sad news that our much loved author Shaun Traynor, poet and writer (Savannah and Her Thirteen Moons) has died. Our thoughts are with his wife Ursula and the rest of the family. In the near future we will feature a full appreciation of Shaun’s life on our Publications page. A full appreciation of Shaun's life and work can be found here.
What's new?
New Course Ulysses
New Riversmeet Monologue
Part of a speech by TE Lawrence from Jan Woolf's new play Blood, Gold and Oil. Set in the present day in a museum - as an exhibition, 'Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab revolt of WW1' is about to open. Watch here...
New Blog Post ‘The Bread Baker Looks Within’
Paul Merry is a Dorset based baker, teacher and writer whose interest in the history of baking is almost as great as his passion for making bread. Read here...
Coming soon...
Eammon's Boots
Our response to the impact of Covid-19 on our live theatre productions has been to create the Riversmeet Monologues and Riversmeet Shorts. Coming soon Eammon's Boots.
New Riversmeet Monologue
Aaron Lynn is an American actor now based in London and will be performing a William Garrison monologue from Richard Bradbury’s play about Frederick Douglass.
New guest blogger
Gilles Madan on the process of becoming a poet and the power of poetry to connect the past to the present through our common humanity.
