Dedicated to new writing
Marine Studios has been a space for writers including Raymond Antrobus MBE (Ted Hughes Award, Somerset Maugham Award, Guggenheim Fellowship), Harry Baker (Sunday Times bestseller, World Slam Poetry champion), Ellen Jones (Stonewall’s Young Campaigner of the Year, Attitude’s 101 LGBTQ+ Trailblazers, Diversity Power List)Poppy Cockburn (2026 longlist Forwards Poetry Prize), Connor Sansby (Rosemary McLeish Poetry Prize, nominated for three Saboteur Awards), Craftivist Sarah Corbett (Ashoka Fellow, Sheila McKechnie Award), Dan Thompson (Coast Unsung Hero Award, named in GQ ’100 Most Influential Men In Britain’, Time Out/ Hospital Club – Culture 100 winner) and Jessica Taggart Rose (Poetry Book Society Summer Selections 2025).
The Writers’ Room at Marine Studios is a space dedicated to the development of writers in Thanet. It provides a hub for writers of all backgrounds and means, and at different stages in their careers, to work alongside each other. It’s a space designed to bring together writers and members of the wider creative community, helping the local literary ecosystem grow alongside Margate’s vibrant art scene.
Making space for writers of all means and backgrounds
Since it was founded, The Writers’ Room has provided desks for low-income writers who may not otherwise be able to access a regular work space. Most recently, Dan Thompson Studio subsidised two desk spaces. Offering an antidote to the often isolating experience of being a writer, the Writer’s Room is a welcoming hub where writers can be part of a community while having space to focus on their work.
Going beyond co-working
More than a desk in a co-working space, the Writers’ Room offers a poetry library, regular development and support programming, and a monthly ‘Writer’s Space’ with desks open to all. Writers have the opportunity to attend talks by and network with industry professionals as part of the monthly Marine Studio’s First Fridays. The studio also hosts Words Change Things book festival, and Margate Zine Fair.
Marine Studios has hosted public events from writers including John Grindrod, Tristan Gooley, Travis Elborough, Harry Baker, Emily Buchanan, Seth Insua, Sarah Rayner, Sophie Herxheimer, and Paul Gravett.
Seth Insua, Emily Buchanan, Dan Thompson – Words Change Things festival 2026
Join the Writers’ Room
Whether you want to use the libraries and meeting rooms or find a permanent desk space, contact admin@marinestudios.co.uk to arrange a visit.
Writers can use the Writers’ Room hot desk for £15/day including tea/coffee. Find out about Writers’ Room Hot Desks
What’s On:
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See the Marine Studios events page.
We want your ideas
How would you like to use the Writers’ Room? This is a resource for our community so if you have events you’d like to run or projects you’d like to do, please get in touch and we’ll see how we can help.
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The Writers’ Room was started as a partnership between Marine Studios, HKD, Kent Poetry, Co-Relate and Dan Thompson Studio, supported by a grant from Arts Council England.