There's a moose loose aboot this - library!

The weather on Sunday may not have been kind to St Magnus Festival goers, but it hardly mattered to those lucky enough to have tickets for the Arne and Carlos Knitting Workshop in the Stromness Academy Library. 

Becky has returned buzzing with excitement, and inspiration for even more knitting projects - members of the Yap and Yarn group beware!

Apart from providing help and encouragement to workshop participants, as they tackled their very own Magnus the mouse, Arne and Carlos shared photos of the beautiful garden they have created at their home in the Norwegian mountains. 

A wonderful afternoon of knitting passed all too quickly, but before they left  Arne and Carlos were kind enough to sign the library copy of their book Knit-and-Crochet Garden - which is now available to borrow again, as Becky has bought her own copy. 

 Becky also got a photo with the superstar knitters, along with the original Magnus.  

Arne, Carlos and Magnus with a rather over excited library assistant!

Becky assures us that her own Magnus will soon be finished and ready for a photo call, however when we demanded a progress photo this is what we got:

In the meantime if anyone else has finished their Magnus please send us a photo so we can share them here and motivate Becky to get further than some disembodied legs - looks like poor Magnus has had an unfortunate accident at the paws of the library cat.

Maybe we could tempt Arne and Carlos back to visit the Yap and Yarn group when we move to the new Stromness Library?!

Dr John Rae

image from http://www.johnrae200.co.uk/

Stromness is abuzz this weekend as delegates gather for the John Rae 200 International Conference. The conference explores the life and legacy of the arctic explorer, who was born at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir, and grew up in and around Stromness where his father had taken over the Hudson's Bay Company agency.

Organised by the Stromness Museum, the conference features papers organised under three themes: Arctic Exploration, Museum collections and archive sources, and The Hudson's Bay Company and Orcadians in "The Nor' Wast". The full conference program can be viewed on the John Rae 200 website which also has a full list of events which have been organised to commemorate and celebrate Rae's bicentenary. 

This evening, as part of the conference a statue of John Rae will be unveiled at the Pier Head.  The ceremony takes place at 7.15pm for anyone who would like to go along. We won't make it but will try to take a photo of the statue for you next week . In the meantime here is the before picture of John Rae under wraps - or perhaps modelling the latest design for all-in-one arctic gear?!

If you'd like to learn about John Rae and his explorations, and find out why many feel his achievements have never received the official recognition they deserve, then come along to the library. Among the titles on Rae you will find No Ordinary Journey - published by the National Museums of Scotland in 1993 to mark the centenary of Rae's death,  and the two books by Stromness Museum John Rae 200 Exhibition Writer-in-residence, Canadian author Ken McGoogan - Fatal Passage and Lady Franklin's Revenge.

In his role as Writer-in-residence Ken will give a public lecture as part of the conference tomorrow evening, Sunday 29th September, in the Stromness Academy lecture Theatre at 7.30pm. The lecture is entitled Return to Rae Strait and entry is £5 payable at the door. 

Ken McGoogan's books not only tell of Rae's achievements but explain how his report on the fate of the Franklin expedition upset the Victorian establishment -  a campaign against Rae,  led by Lady Franklin, resulted in his achievements being dismissed or wrongly attributed. Many feel that it is time this wrong was righted and that John Rae should receive the official recognition for his achievements that he has, so far, been denied. 

This bicentenary year has seen the launch of the John Rae Society which has been formed to: 

...advance the education of the public in the life and achievements of Dr John Rae as the discoverer of the final navigable link to the Northwest Passage and as one of the greatest arctic explorers. 

Application forms to join the society are available in the library and they have a website under construction at www.johnraesociety.com 

As part of this drive to raise awareness of Rae a campaign was launched at the Orkney International Science Festival  with an online petition asking the minister responsible for the Post Office, Jo Swinson MP, to consider a special stamp to commemorate John Rae. 

You can find out more about Dr John Rae and his achievements in this article from the Orkney International Science Festival's online magazine Frontiers.

image from http://oisf.org/portfolio-items/a-year-of-events-to-honour-john-rae/

Ian Stephen

Orkney Nature Festival

Today is the first day of the Orkney Nature Festival , a nine day celebration of Orkney's wonderful wildlife and rich natural history. You can see the full programme of festival events here and our Reader in Residence, Alison Miller, has blogged about the Orkney Library and Archive's involvement in the festival.

Festival events take place all over the islands, with a number of events based in Stromness. Friday 17th May there will be 'Something Fishy at the RSPB' office in Stromness, when between 11am and 5pm you can drop in to see an Orkney beach:

 – in the middle of the RSPB Orkney office! Find a wealth of marine treasure – and some things a bit less precious – as well as learning more from seashell expert Alastair Skene. You’ll see everything from the geriatric Arctic Cyprine, who may have been filtering seawater when John Rae was setting sail to the Arctic, to the microscopic components that make up shell sand. We’ll have a display of whale bones and strandline material and if you have a mystery marine object that you’d like identified, please bring it along. There’s also a big message from Orkney school children about the perils facing the world’s oceans and our Orkney beaches from marine litter... you’re sure to ‘pick up 3 pieces’ when you’ve heard what they have to say.

Then from 2.30pm - 4.3-pm you can find out about Crustacean conservation and enjoy a crabby buffet at The Ferry Inn. Tickets for this event cost £10 and can be booked through The Ferry Inn, by calling 01856 850280 or email info@ferryinn.com.

 The day finishes with a real treat when former Storyteller-in -Residence, Ian Stephen returns to Stromness for an evening of poetry and tales of his adventures sailing around Orkney and other Scottish islands. We are delighted to see Ian back in Stromness for this event, which takes place at Stromness Academy in the Upper Library at 7pm, and are looking forward to hearing more from this talented poet and storyteller.

Creative Vision

Tonight sees the launch of a new anthology of Orkney writing as part of Creative Vision - a series of events in Orkney celebrating mental wellbeing and challenging stigma, which are part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.

The new anthology To The World, edited by Rosie Alexander,  includes work by a wide range of local writers and artists, from the experienced to first-time writers and artists, and offers an honest exploration of the mind and self in all moods and states of health. The anthology has been funded by See Me and is published by The George Mackay Brown Fellowship and Orkney Minds. 

Tonight's launch event takes place in the Upper Library, Stromness Academy, at 7.30pm and will include readings from the anthology by some of the writers, along with music and refreshments. 

St Magnus Festival

Tomorrow sees the start of the St Magnus International Festival 2012. With lots of exciting events, from a production of Carmen at the Orkney Auction Mart to the chance to join in with the CLIC Sargent sponsored Street Conga, as usual there is something to suit all tastes.

Festival events take place in many venues through out the islands but we thought you might like to hear about those taking place in Stromness. These begin on Friday 22nd June with an event at an exciting new festival venue,when the Ness Battery hosts It Ain't Half Cold Mum. This is the first venue on a tour by a concert party of singers, a magician and musicians who will re-visit the haunts of the ENSA troupes of the Second World War, with a show which promises to take the audience back to the 1940's.

On Saturday there is a reading by Festival Poet Alice Oswald in Stromness Parish Church at 11am, and at 2.30pm there is a Celebrity Recital by mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, accompanied by James Baillieu on piano in Stromness Town Hall. Then at 5pm in the Stromness Academy Lecture Theatre there is A Johnsmas Foy entitled The Young Ones, performed by young folk from Orkney. Then on Sunday 24th June in the Stromness Town Hall the Aronowitz Ensemble will perform works by Judith Weir, Korngold and Shostakovich at 2.30pm.

But perhaps the event we are most excited about will take place on Sunday at 4.30pm in the Stromness Hotel when the participants from the Orkney Writers' Course will read from the work they have produced during the course; which starts on Thursday 21st and is directed by Pam Beasant and Jen Hadfield. The event is called "Poems with tunes, tea and cake" - how could we resist all our favourite things at one event?!