Spinning the Yarn with a Literary Meander
This summer, in celebration of the Highland Year Of Culture 2007, libraries in Kingussie, Nairn, Inverness and Glen Urquhart will host a unique event which will bring together weavers of stories and spinners of wool to provide a uniquely Highland literary experience. To compliment the event and carry on the spinning theme, an exhibition of eye catching artworks in various mediums called Weaving With Words will be winding its way around these and other libraries until the end of the year.
The first `Spinning the Yarn...A Literary Meander’ event will be on Monday 18 June at Badenoch Library in Kingussie at 2.15pm when local spinners will be joined by traditional storyteller Jess Smith. Jess is from Scotland's Perthshire Travelling people and although her past lifestyle working the land is extinct now, it has inspired her to write three books on her travelling live - Jessie’s Journey, Tales from the Tent and Tears for a Tinker.
On Thursday 21 June at Nairn Library there will again be the chance to see first hand the craft of spinning whilst listening to a reading of work by writer Elizabeth Macpherson read by her grand-daughter Jane Yeadon, who lives in the Forres area. Elizabeth wrote for the Glasgow Bulletin and later the Glasgow Herald about her life as a widowed crofter at her farm at Tombain, ten miles from Forres and 800ft above sea level on the edge of the Dava Moor where she raised calves for market. The event begins at 2.15pm.
The following week at 2.15pm on Tuesday 26 June a spinner will be demonstrating her skills at Inverness Library. She will be joined by author Mary Rhind who writes traditional tales for older children and has a regular column in The West Highland Free Press. She was the winner of the 1988 Quest for a Kelpie Award, has tutored in creative writing for writing schools and been a judge for literary competitions.
The final event of the literary meander takes place at Glen Urquhart Library on Saturday 30 June at 10.30am when musician and storyteller Bob Pegg will be joined by a local spinner. Bob has been involved in many community productions. He performs regularly around the UK as a storyteller, and runs workshops for children and adults all across the Highlands.
All events are free and everyone is welcome to come along.
Following the meander, The Weaving with Words exhibition will also be touring these libraries with a selection of beautifully crafted and distinctive artworks. This project was a produced as part of a pilot adult literacy project which took place in Skye and Lochalsh from January to March 2007. It was a partnership project which involved; Highland Libraries, Rag, and Tag and Textile*, Tag Highland, the Highland Adult Literacies Project and the Scottish Arts Council.
Cindie Reiter, Reading Development Coordinator for Highland Libraries delivered a creative writing workshop to sixteen participants at Broadford Library, using material made available as a tutor pack by the BBC RAW campaign. She said: “Not all of the participants had literacy issues or indeed mental health issues although a significant number did. The aim of the project was to be completely inclusive and ensure that all the participants were able to take part without being disadvantaged and without the risk of stigma.”
Of the sixteen participants eight went on to take part in creating pieces for the exhibition Weaving with Words. The exhibition was launched at the Reader Day in Skye and Lochalsh and will now tour the Highlands for the rest of 2007, a list of dates and venues can be accessed at the hi-read web site www.hi-read.org.uk
ENDS