# Event Details - **Event Name**: Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO - **Event Start and End Date**: Sat, 06 Jun, 2026 at 02:00 am – Sat, 06 Jun, 2026 at 06:00 pm (+01:00) - **Event Description**: Come and join us for a three day festival of poetry with special guest Lemn SissayAbout this EventThe Rainham Poetry Festival brings together an array of voices each bearing their own distinctive message.New writers mix with celebrated poets to present their work at St Margaret's Rainham on Watling Street - the old Roman road connecting London and the whole of Britain with the Channel Ports and Europe beyond.And here in this church we will reflect on the power of poetry to transform our world.The festival takes place over two days between Friday June 5 2026 and Sunday June 7 2026This year's edition unfolds from the anthology Beyond the Acorn Door curated by Bill Lewis.The line up for this DAY TWO of the festival is :2.00pm. Introduction2.05-2.40. Children's session2.40-3.20pm We welcome Theresa Lola, award-winner British Nigerian poet who will read a selection of her poetry. Lola's debut full-length poetry collection In Search of Equilibrium was described by Pascale Petit as a "glorious hymn to being alive and wounded". Theresa’s second collection, Ceremony for the Nameless, explores the relationship between names, naming, and identity. The collection won the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and received praise from critics.3.20-3.40pm. Guyanese poet, prose writer, and visual artist Maggie Harris will join us to read poems from her latest book I Sing to the Greenhearts. She was awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature in 2000 and 2014 for her collections of poetry Limbolands and Sixty Years of Loving, respectively. She also received the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region in 2014 for Sending for Chantal. Among her other books are, Kiskadee Girl and On Watching A Lemon Sail The Sea.3.40-3.55pm We are pleased to have Rob Earl with us this year. He was one of the original "Medway Poets" - that group founded in the ambition and the energy of the music scene in the late 1970s. Originally known - like the rest of his group - as a performance poet, over the years his style has become no less distinctive. He says 'Some of my work can be rather 'strong'. But I’ll find some suitable pieces that are both energetic and apposite for the church this June'3.55pm BREAK4.10-4.30pm Sarah Hehir's background in writing has taken her from the Radio 4 soap 'The Archers', to experimental theatre. She won the inaugural BBC Writer’s Prize for her drama 'Bang Up'. Her poetry is gathered from her life teaching in a Young Offenders Institute, and as a mother. She says her work is powered by "honest fury and reckless optimism". In 2013, she won the inaugural BBC Writer’s Prize for her drama Bang Up, and in 2016, her TV drama The Seafort was selected for the BBC TV Drama Writers’ Programme. Sarah currently writes for The Archers and BBC Doctors.430-4.50pm Paul Jackson is a British video game producer and publisher. Paul has swapped his enthusiasm for the video industry to writing and poetry. He's always been a keen reader. But in the past few years, he's picked up his pen to write thoughtful, observational verse reflecting his part of Kent and the issues of his generation. His heart is in the Medway Towns, and his love for the Gillingham FC sees him on the terraces at Priestfield most Home Saturdays.4.50-5.10pm The Rainham Poetry Festival is pleased to include the launch of Bill Lewis’s new book, Updating, a bilingual English/Spanish anthology of the work of one of Britain's finest poets, our own modern William Blake. Bill Lewis is an English artist, storyteller, poet, and mythographer. He was a founder-member of The Medway Poets and, later, also a member of the Stuckists art group. Bill has developed a language beyond that primæval explosion, writing a corpus of poetry that deals with the modern world from the point of view of a working-class poet who mixes mythologies old and new to interpret modern Britain and the world beyond.510/6.10 pm Our headliner this year is the great British poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay, who will be performking his new book Let the light pour in, a life-affirming collection of poems, witty and full of wonder. These poems chronicle his own battle with the dark and are fuelled by resilience and defiant joy. Lemn Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics. He was also the chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022. He was awarded the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize. He has written a number of books and plays. His memoir, My Name Is Why, is published by Canongate in 2019.610pm Wrap with Vince Maple - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/rainham/rainham-poetry-festival-2026-day-two/100001987262003147 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, festivals, theatre, entertainment, performances, workshops, music, music-festivals - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 1 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: GBP ## Event venue details - **city**: Rainham - **state**: EN - **country**: United Kingdom - **location**: High Street - **lat**: 51.363554 - **long**: 0.6071049 - **full address**: High Street, High Street, Rainham, United Kingdom ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events5/banners/de4b288441802b5fe837a311a7cbf74b130daebfdb6bd40cab5d91959184c1f9-rimg-w1200-h989-dcfefefe-gmir.jpg?v=1776031446 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO being held? - **A:** Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO takes place on Sat, 06 Jun, 2026 at 02:00 am to Sat, 06 Jun, 2026 at 06:00 pm at High Street, High Street, Rainham, United Kingdom. - **Q**: Who is organizing Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO? - **A:** Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO is organized by Goat Star Books. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO is ideal for festival lovers, culture enthusiasts, and anyone looking for a vibrant, immersive community experience. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Rainham, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Rainham Poetry Festival 2026 / DAY TWO", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events5/banners/de4b288441802b5fe837a311a7cbf74b130daebfdb6bd40cab5d91959184c1f9-rimg-w1200-h989-dcfefefe-gmir.jpg?v=1776031446", "startDate": "2026-06-06T02:00:00+01:00", "endDate": "2026-06-06T18:00:00+01:00", "url": "https://allevents.in/rainham/rainham-poetry-festival-2026-day-two/100001987262003147", "eventStatus": "https://schema.org/EventScheduled", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "High Street", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "High Street", "postalCode": "ME8 7JH", "addressLocality": "Rainham", "addressRegion": "EN", "addressCountry": "GB" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "51.363554", "longitude": "0.6071049" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Come and join us for a three day festival of poetry with special guest Lemn Sissay", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-12", "availabilityEnds": "2026-06-06T18:00:00+01:00", "validFrom": "2026-04-12", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/rainham/rainham-poetry-festival-2026-day-two/100001987262003147" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "GBP", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-12", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-12", "url": "https://allevents.in/rainham/rainham-poetry-festival-2026-day-two/100001987262003147", "price": 0, "name": "General Admission" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Goat Star Books", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/goat-star-books/23957704" } ] } ] ```