YARN WEAVERS

In a country of selkies, kelpies, bogles and trows, where some of the world’s bestselling authors reside, it’s fair to say we Scots have tales aplenty in our DNA. And after two years of pandemic living, stories have taken on an even greater significance, allowing us to share our personal experiences and feel connected. With a year-long programme of over 60 events taking in cinema, music, sculpture trails, nature walks and even stargazing, the Year of Stories 2022 sets out to prove that stories are for – and by – everyone, and can be found in unexpected places.

There’s a long association between storytelling and Scottish islands, and from April to December, An Lanntair in Stornoway will present Seanchas – Gaelic for conversation, lore and storytelling – a series of events based around Hebridean tales. Then in August, An Tinne (The Link), on Skye, examines the links between Scotland and Australia, using as its touchstone the evictions of the 19th-century Highland Clearances.

Scotland’s Nordic ties to the islands and northern coastline will be celebrated at the Northern Stories Festival based at Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness in the autumn, where travel and nature writers will explore legends and folklore, from The Orkneyinga Saga to Neil Gunn. Other regional events revelling in stories with local community links include Once Upon a Time in South Ayrshire, spanning right through the year, the Findhorn Bay Festival in late September, and A Yarn Worth Spinning, led by The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels, which will tell the story of the history and culture of textiles in the Scottish Borders from April to June.

Also making connections to landscape, Of Scotland’s Soils and Soul is a series of events spanning the country’s four Botanic Gardens, in the Borders, Argyll, Dumfries and Galloway and Edinburgh. In these lush settings, music, song and performance will dig deep into the role of plant life in some of Scotland’s most famous stories, from Harry Potter to Sunset Song.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and some of our most famous stories of the past century have found their way to the silver screen. This year the Edinburgh International Film Festival celebrates its 75th year and will showcase Scotland’s Stories on Screen in a series of special events and screenings. Meanwhile, Transgressive North are putting on a series of ‘film ceilidhs’ in collaboration with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in October under the title Map of Stories: Voicing

From Celtic myths to Tartan Noir, Scotland has always been a nation of storytellers. Lucy Ribchester delves into a year-long celebration that’s set to showcase our tales tall, true and tantalising

PHOTO: AUDREY RUSSELL

YARN WEAVERS

Scotland’s Landscapes. From May to December, the Scottish Storytelling Centre has a programme entitled Figures of Speech which challenges prominent and emerging artists and creatives to respond to iconic stories through film, poetry, music and more.

Pictures in comic form are the attraction at the spirited Dundee Summer (Bash) Streets Festival in July, where heroes from The Beano take centre stage, while younger audiences might also be drawn to the story of Yoyo and the Little Auk, a brand-new short animated film exploring Scotland’s diversity which will be shown at festivals across Scotland, with live accompaniment from Scotland’s national orchestra, the RSNO.

There’s also a musical connection in Songs from the Last Page, led by Chamber Music Scotland, where songs are created from the last lines of great works of literature. The year-long project will use songwriting workshops and live performances to celebrate some of the country’s best-loved storytellers.

Using yet another form to express creativity, the Raise the Roof project seeks to reclaim forgotten stories of the women of the region as part of Perth and Kinross’ Year of Stories. Community groups and cultural organisations will create stories inspired by artefacts, culminating in the Wire Women sculpture trail around the centre of Perth in the summer.

If you prefer your tales written down, there are plenty of literary festivals to get stuck into, including StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, in March (see page 33), and the Borders Book Festival in June, set in the gardens of Melrose’s Harmony House. Later in the year, Edinburgh International Book Festival is pulling together stories from communities all over the country for a mass storytelling event, Scotland’s Stories Now.

Between April and November, the Scottish Book Trust will be on the hunt for the nation’s ‘true’ tales with their Community Campfires programme of storytelling residences and events, culminating in an event during Book Week Scotland in the autumn. Wigtown Book Festival, meanwhile, will feature events such as Into the Nicht, finding tales in dark, starry skies (for more, see page 64), while Tales from the Castle in the autumn brings a brand-new storytelling trail to Stirling Castle, travelling back through time via ancient arches and grand courtyards. n visitscotland.com/year-of-stories. For more events taking place as part of the Year of Stories, see pages 20 and 28.