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 Blog Post Double Happiness
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 Riversmeet Short Bookshop
It’s 1812 and Elizabeth Hitchener has joined Percy Shelley in Lynton where he is in self imposed exile. Here she explains how a woman from a humble background became such an avid reader. Watch 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 Ulysses Course
After the success of our first Slow Reading course on James Joyce's Ulysses we are delighted to be offering a second course commencing January 2022. Click here to find out more...
New guest blogger
Helena Enright is a theatre practitioner with a passion for exploring creative ways to facilitate social change. Her most recent play Playing the Game features contemporary testimony from mothers in prison.
