Blue Black Permanent, Film & Poetry

A rare opportunity to see Margaret Tait's feature film, Blue Black Permanent on the big screen tomorrow night.

Westside Cinema
Stromness Town Hall
7.30 pm
Thursday 11 April

Not only is it a rare opportunity to see the film, but there is a unique chance to see its star, Gerda Stevenson, in conversation, after the screening with Sarah Neely and Sarah Forrest, the first recipient of the Margaret Tait Residency.

Sarah Forrest's short film that now, made as part of her residency, will be shown alongside Blue Black Permanent.

On Friday night Dr Sarah Neely will deliver the George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture.

GMB Memorial Lecture
Margaret Tait: filmmaker & writer
Pier Arts Centre
7.00 pm
Friday 12 April 

Sarah's lecture will be illustrated with some of the films of Margaret Tait along with readings of some of her poetry.

Margaret Tait: Film Poet, commissioned by Glasgow Women's Library and made by Marissa Keating and Michael Thomas Jones will be shown in the Pier Arts Centre after the lecture. 

Margaret Tait: Film Poet
Pier Arts Centre
Friday 12 April
After the GMB Lecture

ONE WEEK TILL THE ORKNEY BOOK FESTIVAL

Orkney Book Festival kicks off one week tonight with Margaret Tait's film, Blue Black Permanent to be shown in Stromness Town Hall by Westside Cinema. See below for details.

THU 11 APRIL 'Blue Black Permanent' (PG)

plus Q + A with lead actress GERDA STEVENSON

Orkney Book Festival

present

Margaret Tait's debut feature from 1992.

Gerda Stevenson

7:30 doors for a 7:45 start.

£5/£4 concessions (school age children free). Bring your own refreshments.

'A haunting and magical film about a daughter’s attempts to come to terms with her mother’s mysterious death, not only through examining her own childhood memories but also going back further in time, to tales of her mother’s own childhood. With an allusive structure filled with flashbacks and dreams, this is a delicate and poetic work of intense emotion'. —luxonline.org.uk

Gerda Stevenson received a Scottish BAFTA Best Film Actress Award for her performance in the film and we are delighted to welcome her to the screening in conversation with Dr. Sarah Neely, author of  Margaret Tait: Poetry, Writings, Stories.

Supported by the short film

'that now'

by Sarah Forrest

An artist's film made in response to a six week Margaret Tait residency in Orkney. Sarah will also be in attendance to introduce her film.

ORKNEY BOOK FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

The programmes are out and about now locally for the second Orkney Book Festival running from the 11-14 April.

For those not lucky enough to be here in the 'small green isles', you can find the whole programme by clicking this link to the GMB Fellowship Website. 

After a week of gales and sudden furious snow flurries, the sun is shining and the sky is the colour of the sky in the poster above. Mind you, you'll still need storm pegs to hang out your washing if you don't want your clothes festooning the fields round about. Or worse, ending up in Norway! Have a look at mine today by clicking the link above.

I'll be blogging about the different events in the weeks coming up to the festival, but here is a taste of two poets to feature in the festival:

from Storms

I wished for a storm to test my strength against.
I cried for the gale-force wind,
For electric explosions,
For sheets of rain.
I looked to the motionless wisps of cloud,
To the serene blue of the sky
And wished them transformed.
I wished to be battered and to emerge triumphant ...

From Margaret Tait: Poems, Stories and Writings, edited by Sarah Neely

You can hear this poem in full read beautifully by Gerda Stevenson in the film Margaret Tait: Film Poet, 
to be shown on 
Friday 12 April at 7.00 pm 
in the Pier Arts Centre.

But if you want to see it, you must BOOK EARLY by phoning the Pier Arts Centre on 01856 850209.

The film was commissioned by Glasgow Women's Library and will be shown after the George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture to be delivered this year by Sarah Neely.

There is also a rare chance to see Blue Black Permanent, Margaret Tait's only feature film. This will be shown by Mark Jenkins in a special screening by the independent film group, Westside Cinema, in Stromness Town Hall on Thursday 11 April at 7.30 pm.

Gerda Stevenson in Blue Black Permanent

 The film stars multi talented Gerda Stevenson, who will be there in conversation with Sarah Neely and later in the festival will read from her own poetry.

Sarah Forrest with Alex Pirie, husband of Margaret Tait

The first recipient of the Margaret Tait Residency, Sarah Forrest, will also show her film, That Now on the same evening.

Cragsman's Widow

He was aye vaigan b' the shore,
An climman amang the craigs,
Swappan the mallimaks,
Or taakan whitemaa aiggs.

It's six year bye come Lammas,
Sin he gaed afore the face,
An nane but an auld dune wife
Was left to work the place.

Yet the sun shines doun on a'thing,
The links are bonnie and green,
An the sea keeps ebban an' flowan
As though it had never been.

Robert Rendall from Collected Poems, edited by John Flett Brown and Brian Murray

You can hear more of Robert Rendall's poems read by Orkney readers:

4.00pm on Saturday 13 April 
in Orkney Library & Archive 
with the book's editors, 
Brian Murray and John Flett Brown 

They will be there to talk about the poet and the process of bringing out this fine collection of his poems.

A Still from Blue Black Permanent

Time for Reflection

Two blog-free weeks and I feel I've lost the knack! It's not easy to live your life AND write about it. When I'm busy it seems like there's no time for reflection. 

And then there's what to write about? There's a lot going on now: groups set up and running as part of the residency; input into Orkney Book Festival which will happen in April; the ongoing work of promoting services; the eventual relaunch of a service in the library aimed at using books as ways of helping readers out of the doldrums. And much 
more!

There has been a couple of weeks of absolutely glorious weather. The photograph above is of Stromness harbour at sunset on the 17 February. I was there to join the George Mackay Brown Fellowship Group to discuss the upcoming Orkney Book Festival. Much of the festival is being run in collaboration with other groups - the Pier Arts Centre, Westside Cinema, Glasgow Women's Library. 

There are several strands to it: Margaret Tait, the Orkney film maker and poet will be featured through her films and her poetry. I will publish the full programme nearer the Festival, but meantime, here is a taste of what's to come:

Margaret Tait

There will be a screening of Blue Black Permanent, Margaret Tait's only feature length film, introduced by Sarah Neely and Gerda Stevenson, who stars in the film and knew Margaret Tait well.

Gerda Stevenson

The George Mackay Brown Memorial Lecture will be about Margaret Tait and will be delivered by Dr Sarah Neely of Stirling University.

Sarah Neely

Sarah also edited a book of Margaret Tait's poetry and other writings and there will be screenings of some of Tait's shorter films as well as readings of her poetry.







And another treat in store is Glasgow Women's Library's film: Margaret Tait: Film Poet by Marissa Keating, Michael Thomas Jones and Laura Dolan.

If you click on the link in the film title above, you'll see a fabulous trailer for it. It attracted four star reviews at its recent outing in the Glasgow Film Festival.

The film is being brought up to Orkney by Magi Gibson, Glasgow Women's Library's Reader in Residence. Magi will be playing a big part in the festival along with Ian MacPherson, Canadian novelist Struan Sinclair and many more!

See the blogs in the next few days to read more about the visiting writers and the organisations collaborating to bring you the festival.