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Welcome to your Geopoetics newsletter for February with news and information about upcoming events in Scotland and beyond.
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Our next event will be a Highland Stravaig on Saturday 26 May 2018 in Abriachan in collaboration with Moniack Mhor, Scotland’s Creative Writing Centre, and the Abriachan Forest Trust. Abriachan is a rural community set high in the hills above the western shores of Loch Ness. We will explore Abriachan both as a rich cultural and literary landscape and as a part of a diverse bio-region, reflecting on different creative, poetic and aesthetic ways of being in this place.
A live theme at last year’s Expressing the Earth’conference on Seil Island in Argyll was the contribution of geopoetics to modern land consciousness. There is a social and poetic link here: 2018 sees the 20th anniversary of the Abriachan Forest Trust's community land buy-out in 1998, which followed the Isle of Eigg in 1997. This year’s Stravaig event is, in part, a celebration of this milestone in Abriachan’s history. Local writer Katharine Stewart (1914 – 2013), a former member of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, played an important role in this story. Stewart’s writing - including A Croft in the Hills (1979) and Abriachan: The Story of an Upland Community (2000) - is celebrated this year by Moniack Mhor with a bursary for aspiring nature writers and writers of historical fiction.
Following the inaugural Tony McManus Lecture on ‘Nan Shepherd as an Early Geopoet’ by James McCarthy in November 2017, we will also reflect on the work of local author Jessie Kesson, who, upon a chance meeting with Shepherd, was inspired to pursue her writing.
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To introduce the day, we will discover more about the story of Abriachan from leader of the Forest School, Suzann Barr, and Gaelic expert Roddy MacLean will share his deep knowledge of Gaelic place-names, native flora and fauna and local geodiversity on a forest walk in the shadow of hill Carn na Leitire (outdoor wear recommended!). In the afternoon, following a lunch of soup and bread, we will hear from ecologist and international river campaigner Lucio Marcello - who is currently investigating archive materials to chart the impact of dams and other land use changes on the biodiversity of the Ness river system – and from writer and cartographer Raghnaid Sandilands who will share her creative approach to landscape and cultural memory.
Following some free creative time in the afternoon, we will traverse 1.4 miles up the road to the Village Hall. Writer and musician Heather Clyne will introduce us to the work of Jessie Kesson with a selection of readings on a short walking tour through the village. This will be followed by a hearty shared meal in the hall and an evening ceilidh with opportunities for open floor contributions. Music for dancing will be provided by the local ceilidh band.
Download full information here
Email Mairi at geopoeticshighland@gmail.com for further information.
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Many thanks to everyone who sent in essays, poems, images and artwork for issue 6 of our online journal Stravaig. We received more submissions than ever before so it will take us some time to complete the editing. There will be more news to follow but in the meantime take a look at previous issues here.
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Please send information about geopoetics related publications, news and events for our next Newsletter to normanbissell@btinternet.com.
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Members' News: Elizabeth Rimmer launches 'Haggards' at SPL
We would like to send very best wishes to Elizabeth Rimmer, who launches her third full-length poetry collection at the Scottish Poetry Library on Saturday 10 February. Haggards, published by Red Squirrel press, plays off the different meanings of the word ‘haggard’ - wild and untamed, worn by grief and hardship; and the Irish designation for a patch of land, too small to cultivate, granted to peasants to grow their own crops, to create poems about herbs, personal and social upheaval, creativity and regeneration. Free event, free wine. All welcome. Read more
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Bothy Culture and Beyond: A Live, Lasting Culture
'Bothy Culture and Beyond,' the music of Martyn Bennett orchestrated for the stage by conductor Greg Lawson, was a major highlight at this year's Celtic Connections Festival. Read Mairi McFadyen's outstanding essay on the cultural significance of this event, reflecting on the potent link between the politics of land reform and the poetics of a deep culture. Read here (republished on Bella Caledonia here)
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Asheville Wordfest, NC, USA: Earth, People and Words
Norman Bissell and Alastair McIntosh will travel over the Atlantic this April to speak at Asheville Wordfest in North Carolina on the theme of science, soul and art in conversation. The event is organised by Laura Hope-Gill, who attended the Expressing the Earth conference last year. Laura is a writer, poet, architectural historian, film-maker, teacher and directs the Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Asheville. Read more.
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Hugh Miller Writing Competition
We are again supporting the Hugh Miller Writing Competition as a partner. The competition aims to honour the legacy of geologist Hugh Miller by inspiring new, original prose and poetry on the theme of Scotland’s rich fossil heritage. The competition is organised by the Scottish Geodiversity Forum, The Friends of Hugh Miller and other partners. Open to all ages. Closing date 15 April 2018. Full details here.
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Somewhere-Nowhere website
Rooted in the natural world, somewhere-nowhere celebrates the value of walking journeys and slow time outdoors. Growing from a collaborative practice of photography and writing, Somewhere-nowhere uses exploration, discovery and creativity to build connections between people and nature. Check out its lovely combination of poems and images here.
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Welcome to the many new members who have joined the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics since the Expressing the Earth Conference in June and to all the new subscribers to this Newsletter.
The Scottish Centre for Geopoetics is a membership organisation which relies on members’ subscriptions to fund its activities which are carried out by volunteers. Its purpose is to raise awareness of geopoetics as a crucial way to approach and respond creatively to the natural world of which we are part.
By joining us you will support the development of geopoetics. You will also receive a free copy of Grounding a World: Essays on the Work of Kenneth White.
Annual membership costs £10 waged/£5 unwaged.
Read more about membership here
Download membership form here
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Please feel free to circulate this Newsletter to friends who may be interested. Thank you.
With all best wishes,
Norman Bissell
Director, Scottish Centre for Geopoetics
Mo Dhachaidh
51 Cullipool
Isle of Luing
Argyll
PA34 4UB
tel. 01852 314322
e:normanbissell@btinternet.com
w: www.normanbissell.com
t: @nbissell
www.geopoetics.org.uk
www.atlanticislandsfestival.com
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