We kick off another season of events this May. Our programme of heritage and cultural events starts with a poetry workshop and musical evening inspired by George Mackay Brown.

Hoy was a special place for Mackay-Brown and Rackwick in particular held power for the poet. Hoy Kirk have collaborated with the George Mackay Brown Fellowship to hold a Rackwick Renga, led by writer Yvonne Gray. The event will take place on 5 May.
Renga, a Japanese poetry form that is around 1000 years old, is a shared process. Beginning with the first verse or hokku (from which the Japanese haiku form originated), this group poem will follow the cycle of seasons, growing to 20 verses, linking to and moving on from what has gone before.

It might draw on the sights and sounds of Rackwick or the responses of participants to the place, or associations which it calls up. Every renga is different and can take surprising twists and turns. No previous experience is necessary. You are welcome to join in for the whole day, or to drop in and out of the process as you wish.

The Renga produced during the workshop will be performed the following Friday 11 May when Hoy Sound will make a welcome return to Hoy Kirk to sing choral pieces composed by Laurence Rugg for the words of George Mackay Brown.

Other highlights in the programme include nature walks, crafts show, research into the Leicester City shipwreck, new exhibitions about Hoy’s roads and shops and the Hoy Express. We’ll keep you informed.

TO BOOK on to the Rackwick Renga (places limited to 10) contact us at hoy.heritage(at)btinternet(dot)com or call Rebecca on (01856)850459.

George Mackay Brown in Rackwick

PHOTOGRAPH BY GUNNIE MOBERG by permission of the Gunnie Moberg Archive, Orkney Library & Archive. Visit the Gunnie Moberg Archive here.