2012 was a good year for the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics
2012 was a good year for the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and 2013 promises to be just as good. In the last part of the year our website www.geopoetics.org.uk received 7,900 views from 68 different countries, new subscribers are coming in all the time and 2 new members have joined already this year.
The second issue of our online journal Stravaig will be available in the coming weeks and will contain 6 essays, lots of poems, 2 reviews and many images. We would like to thank everyone who submitted work for it. Meanwhile, check out Stravaig#1 here: online-journal-stravaig/stravaig-1-contents/.
Here are our initial plans for the coming year. Full details to follow.
On Thursday 7th February 2013 I will be speaking about Geopoetics on the Atlantic Edge: Expanding Our Sense of Scotland at an International Futures Forum Ramsay Garden Seminar at 4 Ramsay Garden, Edinburgh 13.00 – 14.15 with buffet lunch from 12.30. I will be outlining Atlantic poetics and explaining how the Isle of Luing Community Trust Atlantic Islands Centre, for which the Trust has raised £1.2m funding, could contribute to an expansive sense of world and cultural renewal.
Places at the seminar are limited to encourage a quality discussion. Reserve a place by emailing Mairi Heneghan or phoning IFF at 01383 861300.
On Saturday 28 April our AGM will take place in the Edinburgh area preceded by a talk about geopoetics.
On 5 May at 2 pm Christian McEwen will give a talk and reading about Creativity and Slowing Down in the Islington Ecology Centre off Gillespie Road near Finsbury Park, London, This will be followed by a walk around the nature reserve putting these ideas into practice.
At the end of May or in June there will also be a walk for geopoetics members and friends in the South Downs and possibly more walks and conversation in the Lea Valley of London.
Contact Gordon Peters at gordonpeters18@hotmail.co.uk if you’d like information about future events in southern England.
On Friday 28 June Christian McEwen will give a reading and lead a discussion on Creativity and Slowing Down in Edinburgh followed by an outdoors workshop on Saturday 20 June. Her marvellous book World Enough & Time is now available from through UPNE (University Press of New England) Order Dept. which is represented in the UK by the Eurospan Group (info@eurospangroup.com, or www.eurospanbookstore.com).
August/September – we are looking into the possibility of a visual arts/poetry exhibition and walk in Hexham near Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
New Books from Members
From Shore to Shoormal / D’un rivage à l’autre by Nat Hall and Donna Allard Broken Jaw Press @ £10.
John Richardson: Naturalist of the North by James McCarthy GC books @£4.99.
By Leaves Entwined by Gordon Peters with illustrations by Sandra de Matos @ £5.
Wherever We Live Now by Elizabeth Rimmer Red Squirrel Press @ £6.99.
The Proprietry of Weeding by Colin Will Red Squirrel Press @ £6.99.
Other Resources:
Entanglements, a new anthology of environmental poetry ed. By David Knowles and Sharon Blackie, cover design by Douglas Robertson.
The Dark Mountain Project third book is now out and will be reviewed in Stravaig#2.
Scotland’s Landscapes: The National Collection of Aerial Photography by James Crawford from the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland.
The fourth issue of EarthLines Magazine is now out and is packed with articles, images and poems including an interview with Robert Macfarlane. It’s well worth a subscription.
GEORGE WYLLIE RETROSPECTIVE: IN PURSUIT OF THE QUESTION MARK. The Mitchell, North St, Glasgow, G3 7DN. Until 2 February 2013. Mon-Sat, 10-5. FREE ENTRY. The largest exhibition ever of his work and definitely not to be missed. I laughed out loud at some of his scul?tures.
Infinite Scotland exploring natural and cultural connections tours Scotland late January early February.
2013 has been designated the Year of Natural Scotland and you can find out more about how to get involved and what’s happening here:
Suggestions for other resources that may be relevant to geopoetics are most welcome, as are your thoughts on any of this Newsletter.
Membership
To develop our work of raising awareness of geopoetics we need new members and existing members to renew their annual membership (£10/£5 unwaged). If you value what we do, please send a completed application form from our website and cheque made out to the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics to Bill Taylor 7 Wellpark Terrace West, Newport-on-Tay DD6 8HU. You can also pay online by PayPal at here.
