Reading Group - Katherine Mansfield

Hard to believe but tomorrow is the last Wednesday of the month, which means that it's time for the Reading Group to meet again.

This month we will be discussing a selection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield who in her tragically short life produced writing which Virginia Woolf described as "the only writing I have ever been jealous of ".

The stories we are going to discuss are; The Garden Party, Bliss, Prelude,The Woman at the Store, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, and Taking the Veil.

If you are interested in finding out more about Katherine Mansfield's life and work Claire Tomalin's biography of the writer Katherine Mansfield : A Secret Life is available for loan, along with several different volumes of the short stories.

Plans

We are feeling a bit excited as the revised plans for the redevelopment of the Stromness pierhead - which includes our lovely new library - go on display to the public tommorow, Wednesday 21st September.

The revised plans, by Malcolm Fraser Architects, will be on display in the Stromness cash office until October 5, when full planning permission will be sought at the Orkney Islands Council's planning and protective services committee meeting.

The original plans were revised based on input from the public following the initial presentation of the plans in March. As well as the new library the development will include the creation of two new retail units; a new office space, which will be shared with police; and formal and informal meeting areas.

For those of you who can't make it along to see the plans in person here is a wee look, courtesy of The Orcadian website.





 The new library is the building, running from street to harbour, on right of diagram.



Author of the Month for September - Jodi Picoult

With the weather more like winter than autumn, and the nights getting longer, you can at least take pleasure in curling up with  good book. This month's author, Jodi Picoult writes novels which centre on family, relationships, and the balance of love. Picoult's riveting plots raise questions and issues for the reader, as characters face moral dilemmas, often touching on topical areas of controversy involving religion, crime and politics.

Picoult's most recent title is Sing You Home

Librarians on Loan

It was lovely to meet some of the staff from the Shetland Library this afternoon when they popped into Stromness Library during their visit to Orkney Library and Archive, as part of the Librarians on Loan project supported by Scotland's Islands.


This evening at 7.30pm in the Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall, there will be friendly rivalry in the air as the Shetland lasses take on their Orkney counterparts in an Orkney vs. Shetland open-mic poetry night.  Everyone is invited to come along and read their favourite local poems - or just come along and listen! Entry to the event is free and the evening includes music and refreshments, and as an extra incentive to take part, everyone who reads a poem will get a free copy of  Bards in the Bog.

The Poisonwood Bible

The Stromness Library Reading Group got off to a lively start after our long summer break when we discussed The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. At over 500 pages this was not a light read in any sense but the group found much to praise and to ponder in Kingsolver's handling of her tale, which traces the interwoven histories of an American missionary family and the Belgian Congo.  The Price family find themselves changed forever by their experiences in a place where human nature and the natural world are experienced at their extremes, and where a growing sense of foreboding ends in tragedy for both the Prices and the Congo.

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 28th September at 7pm when we will be discussing a selection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield. New members are very welcome and as always there will be tea and coffee provided.