Rewriting Essex
To celebrate our Twentieth Birthday Essex Book Festival commissioned four writers/artists to re-imagine four iconic books, which have strong links to Essex.
First up is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, much of which takes place in Purfleet. Award-winning writer Damian Le Bas has kindly offered to take on this fabulous tome, from the perspective of his gypsy heritage.
Polish poet Agniezska Studinska, one of our writers-in-residence in March 2018, is tasked with fellow Pole Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, which sets sail from Tilbury.
Spoken Word Artist and Artist-in-Residence at The Roundhouse, Martha Paling, meanwhile, is re-visiting Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders, providing a contemporary twist from a female perspective on the bawdy and ever resourceful Moll Flanders who spent her early life in Colchester.
Finally, Chelmsford-based Sound Artist Chris Adam is creating a new work based on HG Wells’ The War of The Worlds, which has strong links to Chelmsford and the Essex Coast.
The authors and artists presented their work and initial ideas in June 2019, at Metal’s Chalkwell Hall in Southend, and will be developing their work further throughout the year.
