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Scottish
Centre for Geopoetics |
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2004 has started well for the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics with a successful series of events which began in Edinburgh with Jim McCarthy’s illustrated talk on the geology of Scotland (coming soon to Glasgow), continued with Gerry Loose’s informative tour of the Hidden Gardens, and enjoyable poetry reading with Graham Hartill in Glasgow, and returned east for a visit to Rosslyn Chapel and Glen. More members from east and west are now attending events in both cities. The recent conference of the International Institute of Geopoetics held in Geneva has led to the formation of a Swiss centre for geopoetics based at the University of Geneva. Geopoetics: place, culture,
world by Kenneth White, the first introduction to geopoetics in
English published
by our Alba Editions imprint, has
been favourably reviewed in The Herald, and orders continue to come in.
Preparations
are on-going for the publication of a book of papers given at the Forty
Years of the White World conference at the University of St Andrews last
October, and a report of the conference is in the new edition of Markings
magazine which is available from John Hudson at j.hudson@btinternet.com. Our Islands day, in conjunction with island magazine, has created considerable interest but we have decided to postpone it from June until the autumn to give ourselves more time to arrange the day’s programme and publicise it. Suggestions about speakers and offers of participation in the Islands day are most welcome. Programme of Events Tuesday 27 April at 7.30pm Putting the Geo in Geopoetics: a talk with slides by Jim McCarthy at the Quaker Meeting House, 38 Elmbank Crescent behind the King’s Theatre, Charing Cross, Glasgow. Geology and geography have always been fundamental to geopoetics, and in this introductory talk Jim McCarthy will show how geology could hardly be more important for Scotland as the basis of its population distribution, its agriculture, forestry, and its extractive industries. Its classic exposures over 500 million years include some of the oldest rocks in the world and underpin our most valued landscapes and ecology, our natural habitats and wildlife, and our outdoor activities. The story of the laying down of the foundations of Scotland encompasses vast volcanic eruptions, submersion under the sea, great earth movements and tidal waves, and enormous sheets of ice covering the whole land. What we perceive and what we write about in the natural world, whether in poetry or prose, from the mountain tops to our coasts, in Scotland or elsewhere, is derived from the underlying rocks and the great geological forces over aeons of time which have shaped the landscapes we see now. Jim McCarthy is the author of several books about Scotland and is a Scottish Natural Heritage board member. Saturday 8 May at
2.30pm a guided visit to the Isle of May. Meet at 12 noon at the Kellie
Castle Walled
Garden near
Pittenweem, and at 2.15pm at the Anstruther Fishing Museum. The boat
trip takes an hour and we will have about 3 hours ashore on the island,
which
is a major bird sanctuary, returning to Anstruther at 7.30pm. Saturday 5 June at 10.30am – 12.30pm A follow-up workshop to the Isle of May visit and a discussion to plan our Islands day of talks, poetry readings and artwork at the Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace Edinburgh. Tuesday 15 June at
7.30pm Living on an Island: an
Approach to Geopoetics,
a revised talk by Norman Bissell at the Quaker Meeting House, 38 Elmbank
Crescent, Charing Cross, Glasgow. Special Offer to Members The following books by Kenneth White are available to Scottish Centre
for Geopoetics members at the above talks and by post at a special discount
(including post and packing): Subscriptions: New and Due Please send your name, postal and e-mail address with a cheque for £10/£5 concessions, payable to the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, to the treasurer, Richard Browne, at the address below. Annual subscriptions are now due unless paid since March 2003. Contacts: |
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