Iceland Writers Retreat, April 2023

 

Viking long-ship, the ‘Solfar’ or ‘Sun Voyager’  created in steel by Jon Gunnar Arnason. Notice the modern day transport of motorized scooters alongside.

Great to be back in Iceland. It was the end of April and snowed the first day even though it is the Icelandic spring.

This time not a holiday but a series of workshops on creative writing (not really a 'retreat') led by many well-known writers.   Amongst the participants I met many Americans and Canadians as well as Icelanders and also a special pleasure to meet many Africans - which I had not expected.  

The IWR is organized by the First Lady so we had a reception in the Presidential Palace. There were also a choice of day trips - I chose the literary one which involved visiting the home of Haldor Laxness where the coach driver sat down at the piano and sang to us. His other job is as professional musician.  Most unexpected. Apparently in Iceland many people have more than one job.

I attended workshops by Helen Oyeyemi and Amanda Smyth on novel writing. And a workshop by Chloe Aridjis on activism as a writer.  So you have an idea of my current interests, outwith writing poetry!  There were no workshops for poets but I understand that there will be in 2024.

On the last evening there was a participants' open mic where most people read extracts from novels in progress. I read my poem 'Inside the Whale Museum' which was about the museum in Husavik, North Iceland I visited on my last trip. It was on that same trip I  visited Akureyri and saw the sea-monsters on Ortelius' map of Iceland which inspired my poems. (See previous blog.)

I highly recommend the course, though being Iceland it is expensive but worth it.

See https://icelandwritersretreat.com/

Brodgar poetry/sound walk now called 'Rewilding'.

 

Delighted that the RSPB  will be hosting Sonja Heyer and my Orkney poetry/sound walk, now called 'Rewilding',  as part of the Orkney Nature Festival 14th May-21st May, 2023. You can listen in person walking round  the Ring of Brodgar and along the path through the RSPB Reserve  or listen online from wherever you are.  

Due to the wind in Orkney the idea of listening through umbrellas has been jettisoned! Participants will listen through their own headphones.

Much of the sound work is natural sound recordings (wind, water, birdsong) taken on site or throughout Orkney but we now have some musical additions to the final work including percussive effects by Sonja.  Also there is  an extract from 'Farewell to Stromness' by Peter Maxwell Davis to a poem warning of the demise of the lapwing, curlews etc.  This will have particular resonance to Orcadians and others who know that 'Max' wrote this to protest against proposed uranium mining (1980)  that would destroy Stromness - the heavy beat suggests the villagers/refugees leaving their homes.  I felt it beautifully fits the potential extinction of various birds and other species on the A List at Brodgar. Thankfully, Stromness was saved, as I hope birds on the endangered list will be too.

I'm also delighted that local Orcadian, Lucy Alsop, soprano, agreed to sing some verses of 'Ariel's Song' ('where the bees sucks... ' words from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', music by Thomas Arne) which meld beautifully with a poem about the Great Yellow Bumble Bee (also in danger of extinction.)  We've also inserted recordings of Orcadian poet, Ingrid Leonard, pronouncing the Orcadian dialect words for birds.  Thanks therefore to my friends, and singer/poets, Lucy and Ingrid.

Details of the event will shortly appear on the festival website... here is a wee promo of us doing the research to whet your appetite.

Click on Rewilding research and recording.