GEORGE
MACKAY BROWN
BARD OF ORKNEY 1921-1996
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Commemorative Events 10th anniversary of the death of GMB on 13th April 1996 "His last contribution [to the Orcadian] appeared two days before his death. Characteristically, it was a welcome to Spring, and a salute to April, his favourite month of the year. Alas for his fellow Orcadians and for his many friends across the globe, April 1996 was the cruellest month." Archie Bevan |
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St Magnus Festival - 16-21 June 2006 A Hamnavoe Man George Mackay Brown 1921 - 1996. Ten years on, a promenade performance celebrating the life and work of the great Orcadian poet and storyteller. Set in Stromness - George Mackay Brown's ‘Hamnavoe' - this unique event moves through the main street of the town, dramatising the life of the writer and the subject-matter that inspired him: St Magnus, the history of the islands and the town, and, most of all, the ordinary characters that lie at the heart of the community. The production is directed by Penny Aberdein, with script by Pam Beasant and original music by Kenneth Dempster. The Festival Lecture the sea, the street and the story Morag MacInnes explores George Mackay Brown's enduring love for the islands he celebrated, a love which left Orcadians with a remarkable poetic legacy. Morag examines the way his earliest experiences shape all the major themes in the mature work, and asks (as some critics have) whether the view from the window of Mayburn Court looked over the harbour - or the whole world. Morag MacInnes was
born and educated in Stromness. She has lived in Shetland, Germany, and
Lincoln and returned to Orkney in 2004 to continue writing and to
complete research into Mackay Brown's creative influences in
the 40s and 50s. The poet was a close family friend, and Morag's father
Ian illustrated several of the early works. "George
was a staunchly supporting friend, and the most modest and unassuming of
men, and an exemplary creator; he must be the most positive and benign
influence ever on my own efforts at creation" Introduced by Max himself
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 from the 'Calendar of Kings' exhibition Preview 15th June [invitation only] Opens 16th June Old Ferry Terminal Stromness |
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available
now!
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The new and first
authorised biography
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 Founding Patron - George Mackay Brown The Netherbow, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH! 1SR 0131 556 2647 or 0131 557 5724 www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk 1st June 2006: official opening of new Scottish Storytelling Centre. Includes a beautiful window inscribed with a GMB poem, and the George Mackay Brown storytelling library. There will be two fine portrait photos of George Mackay Brown by Gordon Wright in the library. See GMB News Looking Ahead for more info |
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Tribute to GMB from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies "I learned how to imagine the whole of life in every detail ... that sense of sheer joy in the commonplace person and thing ... for a composer, he is the ideal poet because his works are not so complex that they exclude the possibility of a catalyst for music." Max also credits GMB with helping him "in his move to Orkney, and as a result encouraged his move away from the heady expressionism of his early work to something increasingly more inward and centred." |
created for the gmb website
updated 19.4.06
An
exhibition to mark the tenth anniversary of 
