Marcas Mac an Tuairneir Festival performances
This August, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir brings Gaelic poetry and GaelPop to the Govanhill Baths, Inverness’ Under Canvas and Edinburgh’s SpeakEasy at the Voodoo Rooms
With the Edinburgh Festivals well underway, bringing Scots, Nrew Scots and visitors alike to the capital’s arts venues, Marcas embarks on a month-long mission around Scotland. Bringing the Gaelic language, its literature and contemporary music to Glasgow, Inverness and then back home to Edinburgh, to close the season, Marcas will be sharing the diversity of his creative offer with audiences – poetry, performance, translation, singing and song writing.
Key Dates
Irish Diaspora and Scottish Literature – Poetry Readings
Govanhill International Festival and Carnival – Glasgow
Sunday 11th August – 12pm
No Wrong Path – Creative Writing Workshop
Govanhill International Festival and Carnival – Glasgow
Sunday 11th August – 2pm
Pàillean nam Bard – Poetry Readings and Songs
Under Canvas @ Eden Court – Inverness
Sunday 18th August – 2pm
YTDingo and Friends – Live Music Gig
The SpeakEasy @ The Voodoo Rooms – Edinburgh
Saturday 30th August – 7:30pm
Irish Diaspora and Scottish Literature
As part of their ongoing celebrations of Scottish Literature as Federation of Writers (Scotland) Makar and Scriever, Marcas will join partner-in-rhyme Colette Coen for live celebration of poetry and prose at Glasgow’s Govanhill Baths.
This event will bring their successful online event, shared earlier this year, to live audiences – face-to-face for the first time, with an expanded line-up. Joining them will be former-Scriever, Charlie Gracie and Glasgow’s Màiri Murphy.
As well as being talented wordsmiths in their own right, the four writers all have something cultural in common, belonging to the second- and third-generation of the Irish Diaspora in Scotland and England.
Together, with readings in English, Irish, Gaelic and Scots, their performances will showcase how they have all explored this aspect of their identity in their own work.
They will also be sharing readings from other Irish and Irish Diaspora writers, who have had particular impact on them as readers and writers.
For this event, Marcas will share readings from his critically-acclaimed fourth collection, Polaris- including new works from the forthcoming third edition. He will also share readings of personal favourite poems from Glasgow Gaelic writer Christopher Whyte, and Donegal’s Cathal Ó Searcaigh- two writers who have served as key inspirations, through the years.
Join them as part of the Govanhill International Festival and Carnival at The Roma Cultural Centre on Sunday, 11th August at 12pm.
No Wrong Path – Creative Writing Workshop
Picking up where he left off, after a successful creative writing workshop at Eden Court, Inverness last Spring, Marcas will return to community learning, to inspire writers of any genre, ability and experience with this forthcoming workshop.
No Wrong Path began life as part of a series of workshops, aiming to introduce participants to the Gaelic Way of Seeing, developed firstly during lockdown and delivered in conjunction with Historic Environment Scotland.
Here, would-be-writers and those with plenty in print alike were introduced to the Gaelic colour spectrum, landscape and place-names – a source of inspiration linking their own creativity back to these key aspects of Scotland’s heritage, identity and sense-of-self.
No Wrong Path was expanded for Highland-based participants last summer, when Marcas was artist-in-residence at the Word On The Street festival in Dingwall, where both Gaelic-speaking and Anglophone writers took the opportunity to engage with these aspects of Gaelic culture and take their own writing in new directions.
Once again delivered through English, and open to writers of any background, working in any language, for the Govanhill Festival and Carnival Marcas has reworked the workshop to explore the cultural connections between Scotland and Ireland, evident in the fascinating diversity of place-names present across the two Gaelic nations, diving links between communities, via language, heritage, community and sense of place and space.
As a workshop facilitator, Marcas is in high demand and this workshop sold out, shortly after it was announced. However, potential participants can register for the waitlist. If your organisation would like to host Gaelic Way of Seeing workshops, then get in touch.
The Roma Cultural Centre acknowledges the mutual interdependence of Govanhill’s diverse communities and their histories. They warmly welcome the Irish diaspora and their allies into their space.
Pàillean nam Bàrd – Under Canvas @ Eden Court
A selection of contemporary poetry and music in Gaelic, Scots and English exploring name, language and identity from the new collection How Do We Talk About Knives?
One of the editors of the collection, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, himself a critically acclaimed and award-winning writer who has been a force on the Gaelic and wider-Scottish literary scene for over a decade, will perform with Highland icons Mary Ann Kennedy and Ceitidh Campbell.
Marcas is thrilled to be returning to his Highland Home of Inverness to take part in the amazing Under Canvas festival, which returns for another successful iteration. This time, with the support of the Gaelic Books Council, Marcas will be joined by two of the Knives anthology’s Gaelic contributors, Ceitidh and Mary Ann – both incredible poets who have been dedicating themselves to their poetic craft over the last few years, with publications in some of Scotland’s best-regarded literary periodicals.
Whilst Ceitidh will share works from her forthcoming début poetry collection, Marcas and Mary Ann will also launch a multilingual performance from a special international project they both took part in as literary translators, with a message apt for the contemporary moment – watch this space!
Well known to audiences across Scotland as talented musicians, Marcas has worked with both Mary Ann and Ceitidh extensively over the years – as co-writer of contemporary Gaelic songs, editor and poetry mentor through Gaelic Books Council and Scottish Book Trust New Writer schemes. Mary Ann was executive producer of Marcas’ critically acclaimed album Speactram and they most recently performed together as part of the Duncan Bàn tri-centenary celebrations at Edinburgh’s Netherbow Theatre, this Spring.
The event will serve as a reunion for the trio and attendees should therefore expect some musical surprises too, demonstrating the undying bond between Gaelic poetry and song. Formerly-conductor of Inverness Gaelic Choir and one of Gaeldom’s finest exponents of song, Mary Ann will share the stage with musical talents who developed their creativity under her choral leadership – Mòd gold medallist Ceitidh, and GaelPop pioneer, Marcas. Together they bring to Eden Court an inspiring blend of poetry, translation and music – not to be missed!
How Do We Talk About Knives? was the brainchild of Fife-based poet and editor Rebecca Sharp, who along with Marcas and Samina Chaudry, served as lead-editor for the volume, published by Matecznik Press. Ceitidh Campbell and Mary Ann, are two of five Gaelic contributors who see their work alongside fifteen fellow Scots and New Scots, exploring through brand-new poetry their own names, the experience and stories that come with a name – instances of misnaming, name changing and name choosing.
Pàillean nam Bàrd is preceded by Scrieve – offering attendees a literary double-bill in the languages of Scotland and more, showcasing emergent and established talent. The event is supported by Comhairle nan Leabhraichean and Tobar an Dualchais, as well as the Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust.
Join Marcas, Ceitidh and Mary Ann, alongside emergent writers Anndra Cumming and Lucy Beth at 2pm on Sunday 18th August, at Eden Court, Inverness.