Monthly Salon Dates for 2023:
March 12, May 14, June 11,
July 16, August 13, September 10,
October 15, November 12, December 17
All Salons cost $39.00 to join. A Full Annual discounted subscription is also available.
In the so-called ‘Celtic Fringes’ (Brittany; Cornwall; Wales; Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland; Scotland) language has often been used as a tool of blessing, protection, warning, and vengeance. This talk explores the materiality and performative nature of a cross-section of these, focusing on the positive and negative use of words, including a Manx charm of protection used by fishermen; the loricas of Celtic saints; the curses inscribed on lead-scrolls and deposited in the Roman Baths of Aquae Sulis; the cursed ring that inspired JRR Tolkien; the word-spells featured in Y Mabinogi; and the geasas and incantations of Irish myth. The talk will draw upon the work of Victorian collectors such as Alexander Carmichael (Scotland), Lady Charlotte Guest (Wales), and Lady Gregory (Ireland), but will acknowledge the editorial interventions and nationalist sensibilities of such endeavours. The talk will draw upon doctoral research into the folk cultures and diasporic translocation of Lowland Scotland. Finally, as a creative-critical practitioner (author, performance poet, and storyteller) I shall reflect on the performative aspect of these, and the effect upon audiences, drawing upon my experience of including them in the various spoken word shows I have created over the years. Examples will be included in the presentation.
Dr Kevan Manwaring is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Arts University Bournemouth. A BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers 2022 finalist, he research focuses mainly on Fantasy, place-writing, and eco-fiction. He is the convenor of Writing the Earth – an annual programme of events for Earth Day. He is the author of Turning the Wheel: seasonal Britain on two wheels, The Long Woman, Lost Islands, and editor of Heavy Weather: tempestuous tales of stranger climes (The British Library) as well as collections of folk tales for The History Press. He has contributed articles to Writing in Practice, New Writing, and Gothic Nature. He blogs and tweets as the Bardic Academic.
Confirmed Salon Presenters for 2023
Cherry Gilchrist (Siberian Shamanism in Person) – July 16
Steven Critchley (Theurgy in Iamblichus) – Aug 13
Kevan Manwaring (Loricas & Lead Scrolls) – Sept 10
Anastacia Nutt (Seeking Stillness) – Oct 15
Max & Lisa Goodwin (TBA) – Nov 12
Price for Salon: $39.00 via PayPal to rjspeak@rjstewart.org No refunds on any Salon(s) pre-payment.
Price for Salon Series: $325.00 via PayPal to rjspeak@rjstewart.org No refunds on any Salon(s) pre-payment.
To Register: Email Anastacia directly
Registration Deadline is the Friday before the Sunday Salon. All GoToMeeting links are emailed to subscribers by 5pm the Saturday before each Sunday Salon to registered and prepaid attendees.
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