Activities

Our activities include field days and weekends which combine talks and discussions with guided walks. We held two successful weekend events on the Isle of Luing in 2005 and 2007 which led to publications about the island, the second of which was part funded by Scottish Natural Heritage.

In 2009 we organised a week-long Atlantic Islands Festival on Luing which brought together ornithologists, botanists, geologists, writers, storytellers, musicians, composers, film-makers and theatre practitioners in a celebration of the Argyll islands. As well as talks, guided walks, ceilidhs and poetry and music performances, children’s workshops in drama and Gaelic were provided. These events and workshops in this and previous years were attended and appreciated by many of the residents of Luing. Further details about the Festival are to be found on our other website: Atlantic Islands Festival.

In March 2011 we held a Going Outward conference which was mainly focused on the visual arts and geopoetics at John Ruskin’s former home at Brantwood in the Lake District.

Geopoetics conference, Seil Island Hall, June 2017

Our Expressing the Earth Conference held in June 2017 in Argyll in conjunction with the University of the Highlands and Islands was a great success and led to many new members joining and closer ongoing links with others with an interest in geopoetics.

In June 2019 our Expressing the Earth in the Year of Indigenous Languages Conference at Wiston Lodge near Biggar had a greater emphasis on workshops as well as talks and discussions and two evening ceilidhs.

We have also held Geopoetics Days at Heriot Watt University in November 2017, at Abriachan in the Highlands in 2018, at Leith in November 2018, at New Lanark in October 2019 and Virtual Geopoetics Days in November 2020 and February 2022. All of these except the Abriachan Day included Tony McManus Lectures by Jim McCarthy in 2017, Mairi McFadyen in 2018, Norman Bissell in 2019, Richard Roberts in 2020, Máiréad nic Craith in 2022 and Cairns Craig in 2023 which can be read here under Articles.

Highland Stravaig, Abriachan