THE DEATH OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight

And burned is Apollo’s laurel bough – Dr Faustus

The death of Christopher Marlowe is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of English literature.

Though Marlowe was murdered by government agents in a government safehouse in Deptford Strand, it was misrepresented as a pub brawl, a myth that persists to this day.

Join poet-psychogeographer Niall McDevitt for a thoroughgoing exploration of the story, and immersion in Elizabethan history, with a stunning riverside backdrop.

We will begin at Island Gardens at the so-called ‘Omphalos” of the Isle of Dogs; walk under the Thames  – yes! – to Greenwich Palace; visit the site of Marlowe’s death and coroner’s inquest; and see his burial place in a pauper’s grave in Deptford Green.

We will finish by discussing the 1001 Marlowe conspiracy theories in a Wetherspoon pub in Surrey Quays – hopefully without any poets being murdered.

Meeting at Island Gardens DLR station 1pm. The walk will last three hours and finish at Surrey Quays London Overground station. £10. Buy tickets here.