Shorelines literature festival for writers who do like to be beside the seaside

Celebrating literature with the sea as its theme, Shorelines: The World's First Literature Festival of the Sea takes place in Southend-on-Sea between 15 and 17 July

Curated by writer, poet and performer Lemn Sissay and artist and writer Rachel Lichtenstein, three-day festival Shorelines has an adventurous sea-themed programme that takes in writing, contemporary art, and photography. It includes reworkings of classic literature including a stage version of Ernest Hemingway's novella The Old Man and the Sea and Lemn Sissay's adaptation of Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Writers taking part in Shorelines include Iain Sinclair, Roma Tearne, Shaun Levin and Lara Feigel, who co-wote Modernisn on Sea: Art and Culture at the British Seaside.

All Shoreline events will take place at Solomon Monks Pump House, a temporary pop-up venue that is housing all the events for arts laboratory Metal's nine day arts and culture festival, including Shorelines, which takes place between 15 and 23 July.

Website: www.metalculture.com