The Medway Poets

The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Robert Earl, Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming, Charles Thomson and Alan Denman.

[1] Alan Denman was a founding member, but the group stabilised to Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Rob Earl, Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming and Charles Thomson.

There were, however, personality clashes within The Medway Poets, particularly between Childish and Thomson, who said, "There was friction between us, especially when he started heckling my poetry reading and I threatened to ban him from a forthcoming TV documentary.

[1]Thomson was "a very amusing poet, who avoided 'rant' and 'rap', conveying skip-along, punked up rhyming couplets – a Sir John Betjeman on speed – hilariously accompanied by props, sounds, music.

An LP The Medway Poets was released on Hangman Records in 1988 with guest readers including Tracey Emin and Victor Templar.

[2] The original group name still appeared occasionally, and in 2000, it was advertised on Ming's website that "Sexton and 3 other Medway Poets will be reading at the next Stuckism Show" on 20 May at the Metropole Arts Centre at The Leas, in Folkestone, Kent.

In 1995, during an interview in the Minky Manky show catalogue by Carl Freedman, when asked, "Which person do you think has had the greatest influence on your life?"

After a period of indecision, Emin removed it to reveal a pink basque and stockings, and read out poems by Childish, who in the meantime had quickly fled from the room.

[2] Her first book of writing was "'edited' into reasonable shape" by (Bill) Lewis, printed by Thomson and published by Childish as Six Turkish Tales (Hangman 1987).