Stories

EU Literary Tourism: Untapped Potential. #EURegionsWeek

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Spot-lit Project has been chosen to participate at the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities taking place in Brussels from 12th to 16th October.

The Spot-lit session is under the thematic cluster Cohesion and Cooperation and takes place on Thursday 15th October from 11am to 12am.

The session will begin with a brief description of the EU Interreg NPA funded Spot-Lit Project and how it is breaking new ground in this new and emerging cultural sector. This will be followed by short presentations from the project regions highlighting the untapped potential of literary tourism in the EU and the various ways in which literary tourism businesses have been supported through the project to cooperate together, in spite of the various challenges of Brexit and the global pandemic.

Literary Tourism businesses participating in the Spot-Lit Project operate in the context of four thematic areas of exploration: How LT can engage with children and young people in Scotland, building an LT destination for untapped assets in N. Ireland, making use of digital technology in Finland and harnessing the power of performance art in the West of Ireland.

Q & As will proceed with three LT experts from the project regions who will answer questions based on how cohesion and cooperation has manifested itself through the project – between partners, regions and the LT businesses themselves. The session will conclude with a summing up from the Lead Partner organisation of the Spot-Lit Project who will guide and facilitate any further questions and discussions.

 Register for the Spot-lit Session HERE.

View the full programme for the biggest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to regional policy, this year in a fully digital format and watch all the Key moments.

 

Travel Bubble to be Developed in Kainuu?

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A working group has been established to develop travel safety and prepare a future Travel Bubble in Kainuu.

The current state of emergency within the tourism industry, caused by the corona pandemic, is painfully affecting Northern Finland. There are plans to create a so-called Travel Bubble for example in Finnish Lapland, that have already been in the national headlines.

The situation is similar also in the Kainuu region, where tourism industry forms a significant proportion of the regional economy. On Thursday the 10th September, the regional mayor Pentti Malinen invited a team of experts in a remote meeting to discuss the situation. The participants agreed to establish a working group to study tourism safety and the possible Travel Bubble operating model in Kainuu.

The work group includes e.g.

Pandemic Manager Olli-Pekka Koukkari from Kainuu Social and Welfare Authority,
Municipal Director of Suomussalmi, Mr Erno Heikkinen,
Tourism Manager Aija Laukkanen from Suomussalmi,
Managing Director Heidi Pyykkönen from Vuokatti Tourism Centre,
Regional Development Specialist Minna Komulainen, Regional Council of Kainuu,
Sector Manager Tuomo Tahvanainen, Regional Development Company Kainuun Etu Ltd.

The group will be supplemented so that all Kainuu tourist areas, Finavia and Visit Finland will also be represented.

All the corona cases and infection chains that have recently been reported in Kainuu have now been traced. According to pandemic manager Olli-Pekka Koukkari, it is safe to travel to Kainuu at the moment.
The work group for tourism safety was established on 10 September 2020 to map out the possibilities occurring in Kainuu in case the Finnish government decides on a new hybrid strategy for travel. The goal of this work group is to form a joint vision and define safety guidelines for safe travel to Kainuu, to be applied in future tourism sales.

“The Travel Bubble could save the coming winter season in terms of international tourism,” says Mr Paavo Virkkunen, Director of Visit Finland. Attending the meeting, he thinks it is good that Kainuu is taking the lead in the Finnish Lakeland area to develop travel safety, professionally preparing for the possible release of the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic in the near future. “As the borders are opened for tourism, we will be ready.”

Recovering demand for charter flights are a prerequisite for creating a Travel Bubble. Ensuring travel safety and smooth testing are essential factors for both the tourists and the inhabitants and entrepreneurs of Kainuu region.

According to Pandemic Manager Olli-Pekka Koukkari, the world will be wrestling with the coronavirus for a long time before vaccinations are brought to rescue on a comprehensive level. He instructed the group on the health authorities’ approach to supporting health safety in cooperation with Finavia, in charge of the airports in Finland,  and on what is possible and realistic for the Social and Welfare Authority related to monitoring tourists. “At this stage, it is important to ensure the safety of future travelers, both individuals and groups, and to introduce instructions on safe travel, such as downloading the national Koronavilkku smart phone application, mask recommendations, social distancing and hand hygiene,” Olli-Pekka Koukkari says.

Regional Mayor Pentti Malinen finds it also important that the organisations in Kainuu are organizing themselves to investigate the new tourism opportunities in this challenging situation and setting up a wide-ranging work group to develop local solutions. According to Malinen, “Good local solutions must also be developed in Kainuu, so that the region is a safe and attractive tourist destination. The space we have and the good health safety can be our competitive advantages. ”

For more information, please contact:

Regional Mayor Pentti Malinen,  tel. +358 44 7970 197, pentti.malinen@kainuu.fi
Pandemic Manager Olli-Pekka Koukkari,  tel. +358 44 797 4668, olli-pekka.koukkari@kainuu.fi
Regional Development Specialist Minna Komulainen, tel. +358 44 410 0726, minna.komulainen@kainuu.fi

Photo: Vuokatti image bank

Courtesy of  Kainuun liitto 

Wigtown Book Festival 2020 Online: 24 Sep – 4 Oct 2020

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Artistic director Adrian Turpin on why Wigtown itself is the star of this year’s festival

Digital Wigtown? They are two words that don’t sit naturally together. The joy of Scotland’s Book Town has always been the serendipity of browsing, not on the internet but among the shelves. The autumn book festival is traditionally a place to meet and greet, catch up with old friends and make new ones. But this year there will be no marquees, and no complaints about parking. The hum of the cafe in the County Buildings will be silenced as the 2020 festival goes online in the face of Covid. Who would have imagined that a year ago?

One of the greatest challenges of this brave new digital world has been how to keep the Wigtown-ness of Wigtown. With all the other digital events taking place this year, maintaining the distinctiveness of our Book Town festival has been a priority.

In a normal year, Wigtown Book Festival would generate more than £4m for the local economy, mainly through tourist visits. Sadly that won’t be happening this autumn. But more than ever the festival has a role in showcasing the joys of south Scotland to the widest possible audience.

Yes we have a rota of big literary names, from Andrew Marr and Maggie O’Farrell to Sue Black, Kate Humble and Andrew O’Hagan.  But perhaps the greatest star will be Wigtown and Galloway themselves, hoping to reach a new audience through the web.

Home talent abounds and the opening night will set the tone with the world premiere of a new musical work that puts Galloway’s St Ninian centre stage, created by novelist Alexander McCall Smith and composer Tom Cunningham. While the Wigtown-based Bookshop Band host a daily literary chat show, Diary of a Bookseller author and Book Town stalwart Shaun Bythell offers a sneak preview of his new book about his customers.

Through the wonders of technology we will be exploring Wigtown’s saltmarsh in the company of award-winning nature writer Stephen Rutt, taking the plunge with wild swimmer Vicky Allan, and foraging the Solway shore with wild-food expert Mark Williams, all part of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters celebrations.

Bladnoch Distillery will be offering a virtual whisky tasting, conducted online with the spirits delivered by post in advance, while The Kist – the festival’s regular craft and food space that celebrates southern Scottish producers – also gets a digital makeover.

Visual arts have always been a key part of Wigtown Book Festival’s DNA. One of several online exhibitions celebrating our links with the arts and crafts open studios event Spring Fling will be a retrospective for artist Astrid Jaekel, who famously wallpapered many of the Book Town’s buildings to mark the festival’s 20th birthday. And there’s even a sound artist, the enigmatic Stuart McLean, known locally as French Bloke, who will be curating a collection of the Sounds of Wigtown – evocative audio postcards to bring the Book Town to life at a distance.

But delight in our home town doesn’t mean we won’t also be stretching our wings, with authors taking part from as far away as New York and Argentina. We’ll also be teaming up with our sister Book Town in Featherston, New Zealand for the first time.

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis’,” President John F Kennedy famously observed. “One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognise the opportunity.”

This year has certainly been one of danger for Wigtown Book Festival, as it has for most cultural organisations. That we’ve ridden it so far is thanks largely to the many individuals and organisations, big and small, public and private who have given time, energy and (let’s not beat about the bush) money to help us survive.

Now, this autumn, we pick up the brush again and try to make the most of an opportunity to communicate in a new way and to find new audiences. We hope you will join us, wherever in the world you are.

See WBF Full Programme HERE

To Find Out How To Take Part.

How can I watch events?
You can find events in the adult and YA programmes on Facebook, YouTube or via www.wigtownbookfestival.com. Children’s events will be on the Big Wig and Big Dog Facebook pages.

Courtesy Wigtown Book Festival

Launch of ‘VIENA – Epic Kalevala Adventure’ in Kainuu, Finland

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In spring of 2020, Spot-lit project partners in Kainuu, Finland selected seven product development ideas related to literary tourism for development and funding.

Today we are delighted to launch the first of these products: Vienan Portti Oy’s mobile game “VIENA – Epic Kalevala Adventure” .

Vienan Portti Oy as one of the seven applicants received funding for the development of the free, adventure mobile game “VIENA – Epic Kalevala Adventure”

The game is based on kalevala’s stories and authentic local history and sites in the poetry villages of  Viena Karelia. The starting point for the design of the game was to make the themes and items it presented known and to attract interest in them, thereby also increasing the tourist potential of the region. In collaboration with Vienan Portti Oy, the game has been completed by Kajak Games Osk, run by students from Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, and its internal game team Radical Red Games.

Traditional themes in a new format

“I’m excited about the game’s release and how the game has been adapted to the elements familiar from literature. The game has given written stories a visual form, which also inspires young people to get to know tradition and possibly also visit the site to experience the magic of the environment,” says the father of the idea, Keijo Ahtonen.

The game is made in Finnish and English and is available for free download on Android 10 mobile devices from the Google Play store. The game is therefore suitable for both domestic and international markets, and through it information about kaininga’s history can be experienced widely. It is a technologically innovative approach to literary tourism and the promotion of Kainnu’s culture to large audiences at national and international level.

Vienan Portti is a family business

Vienan Portti Oy is a company founded in 2019, located on an old Karelian family farm in Kuhmo Vartiuskylä, a few kilometers from the Russian border. The history of the farm means that it is well placed to promote karelianism and Karelianism, (Karelianism was a late 19th-century cultural phenomenon in the Grand Duchy of Finland and involved writers, painters, poets and sculptors). Eljas Ahtonen, the ancestor of the current owners, better known as The Uljaska of  The Rmmin, was a model for Akseli Gallen-Kallela when he painted väinämö in his famous Aino triptych.

Eljas Ahtonen, the ancestor of the current owners, better known as The Uljaska of  The Rmmin, was a model for Akseli Gallen-Kallela when he painted väinämö in his famous Aino triptych.

Keijo Ahtonen and Pirjo Kyllönen are entrepreneurs on their traditional family farm. Vienan Port will provide programme services and accommodation for tourists in the future where visitors can enjoy Viena delicacies. This summer Rimm has already got off to a good start in renovating the sites. The work continues, but you can enjoy the atmosphere of Rimm on a limited schedule at the Furniture Shed Café.

The authentic history of the farm, the proximity of the Russian border and many historical/mythical sites create a certain attraction both for the site itself and for the program services offered there. Site-based virtual experiences are also being developed on a long-term basis, enabling future customers to experience the world of Kalevala in almost its authentic environments.

Spot-lit project is funded by Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014 – 2020.

literary tourism northern ireland

An Overview of Literary Heritage Tourism in Northern Ireland

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Northern Ireland is home to a rich literary tradition; in this article we take a look at the literary heritage of Northern Ireland and its legacy of writers who have helped place Northern Ireland firmly on the map as a literary tourism destination.*

Northern Ireland’s literary culture and heritage is strong, offering many locations which inspired a multitude of writers. Home to literary giants including; Heaney, Beckett, Lewis and Friel, each of these writers are memorialised through a series of different literary tourism experiences available across the state.

Northern Ireland’s Literary Heritage

literary tourism seamus heaney

The Rostrevor Inn. Image Credit: Tourism Ireland

In the eyes of the world, Northern Ireland’s association with literature would probably focus on the life and work of the Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney.  Heaney was born in the village of Bellaghy in County Derry and his poetry is suffused with place names and landscape of its environs, – Mossbawn, Magherafelt, Castledawson, Broagh, Anahorish, Church Island, Lough Beg.

Heaney’s intimate knowledge of place was profound.  As he wrote, ‘The landscape is image.  It’s almost an element to work with, as much as it is an object of admiration.’  In 2016 a brand-new, purpose-built literature centre, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, the first of its kind in Ireland, was built on the site of the old police-station in Bellaghy, celebrating Heaney’s life and work and attracting visitors from around the world.

But Seamus Heaney is only part of an extraordinary literary cluster of writers and texts within the six counties of Northern Ireland; wherever you travel there are unexpected and rewarding associations.  Take for example Enniskillen in county Fermanagh, Ireland’s only ‘island town.’  Set in the beautiful watery landscape of Lough Erne, Enniskillen is linked to another Nobel Laureate, Samuel Beckett, who was educated at Portora Royal School in the town, excelling at rugby, cricket and boxing.  The school grounds still retain much of the feel of Beckett’s time, the land sloping down towards the lough on which Beckett would often go out rowing.

seamus heaney centre

Seamus Heaney Home Place. Photo Courtesy of Mid-Ulster District Council

Beckett first arrived at Portora in 1920 and fifty years before him Oscar Wilde attended the same school.  Two more different personalities it would be hard to imagine, the intense, introspective, gnomic Beckett, the outrageous, loquacious Wilde.  It was at Portora that Wilde’s great love of Greek and Latin was nurtured over the seven years he studied there and his beloved children’s story, The Happy Prince, emulates the topography of Enniskillen in its descriptions.

The landscape itself can offer surprising juxtapositions.  In County Down, the Mountains of Mourne (known world-wide because of the Percy French song of the same name) allows you the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of  Ireland’s national saint, Patrick, who as a boy worked as a shepherd on the sides of  these mountains.  Whilst St Patrick has become a world-wide brand, very few are aware that he is the author of Ireland’s first written literature, his Confessio.  Move forward fifteen hundred years and The Mournes and the adjacent Carlingford Lough were the inspiration for the mythic world of C S Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.  As Lewis wrote ‘That part of Restrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia…it made me feel that at any moment a giant might raise its head over the next ridge’.

Next door is the historic city of Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, and the county has close associations with the great satirist, Jonathan Swift.

The Robinson Library in Armagh, built in the 18th century, hosts some wonderful treasures from Swift’s time in the city. These include a very early edition of Gulliver’s Travels, with amendments in Swift’s handwriting in the margins. These were corrections angrily made by the author after his publisher had made changes to avoid legal action.  Swift stayed with friends in the county and begrudgingly acknowledged in letters that he was a rude and difficult guest.  His masterpiece, Gulliver’s Travels, was written while residing as a guest at Loughry Manor in Cookstown (Co. Tyrone) in the 1720s.  In Armagh each summer, a high profile summer school is held in the name of another great Northern Irish poet, John Hewitt.

In Strabane, (just north of Cookstown where Swift wrote the majority of Gulliver’s Travels), was born another comic genius, Flann O’Brien, author of masterpieces such as At Swim Two Birds and The Third Policeman.  It’s little known that O’Brien lived for the first twelve years of his life in Strabane; in the family home his father insisted that they speak only Irish. Tyrone also has strong connections with the writers John Montague and Benedict Kiely.

The potential of literary heritage in Northern Ireland and the borders region has over the last ten years been significantly developed by the festival event organization, Arts Over Borders, of which many of Ireland’s great writers and artists associated with the border counties are Patrons, including novelists Eimear McBride and Glenn Patterson, poets Paul Muldoon and Nick Laird, actors Adrian Dunbar, Fiona Shaw and Roma Downey, historian Roy Foster.

Arts Over Borders produces an annual multi-arts festival celebrating the life and work of Samuel Beckett that was instigated in Enniskillen in 2012 (Happy Days: Enniskillen International Beckett Festival) followed in 2015 by A Wilde Weekend, also held in Enniskillen.  Both festivals have focused on curating events that where possible eschew traditional venues and instead utilise new or found spaces (caves, abandoned houses, islands, police stations, churches, etc.), creating events that are truly experiential for audiences.

In 2015 this multi-arts model was taken further by Arts Over Borders with the creation of Ireland’s first cross-border festival in Derry-Londonderry and County Donegal (Lughnasa FrielFest) celebrating the playwright Brian Friel who had strong associations with three border counties, Derry, Donegal and Tyrone.   Since 2012, all three festivals curated by Arts Over Borders have been part of their long term vision to develop a cross border region of literary activity,  the northern literary lands, an inland literary destination equivalent to the Wild Atlantic Way.   Derry-Londonderry has an established venue, the Verbal Arts Centre, dedicated to writing and literacy developmental work in the city.

Most of Northern Ireland’s counties sit on the Irish border, a border that is often seen as divisive, yet is actually a means of connecting eleven counties (five in Northern Ireland and six in the Republic) into a region that boasts a literary heritage unmatched anywhere else in the world.  As well as the counties already mentioned above, the northern literary lands also includes County Louth where Ireland’s great epic poem and Europe’s oldest vernacular text, the Tain Bo Cuailnge, is situated; Monaghan, home of the poet Patrick Kavanagh and where there is a dedicated literary centre celebrating the poet in Inniskeen; Leitrim, where much of John McGahern’s fiction is set; and Cavan, where the writer Dermot Healy grew up.  And of course there’s Sligo, the inspiration behind so much of Nobel laureate W B Yeats’ poetry.

The Irish landscape is composed of places steeped in association with the older Gaelic culture, whether through the world of the ancient epics or through the sacredness of certain sites, and as we travel across the distinctive landscapes of each county our experience and perspective today is heightened and enriched by the new layers of meaning our writers continue to lay down.

Northern Ireland’s Contemporary Literary Landscape

In more modern times the literature of Northern Ireland has taken on a distinct identity related to place and the historical significance of the region being born in 1922 with the partition of Ireland. The tensions surrounding this partition provided a theme for many authors and this theme lives on in current literary development.

There are many modern prolific writers from Northern Ireland. While this article focuses on Northern Ireland’s literary heritage, it is worth noting that there are many modern writers include Man Booker Prize winner Anna Burns and her contemporaries Wendy Erskine, Brian Moore, Robert McLiam Wilson, Frances Molloy and Eoin McNamee, Jan Carson, Wendy Erskine, David Park, Richard O’Rawe, Glenn Patterson and Lucy Caldwell who now represent Northern Ireland on a global literary stage.

This incredibly rich literary heritage and strong contemporary generation of writers make Northern Ireland a must-visit literary tourism destination.

USEFUL LINKS

CREDITS:

  • Article by Liam Browne and Sean Doran, Arts Over Borders
  • Intro paragraph by cultural consultant Karan Thompson
  • Seamus Heaney Photo Credits: Ireland’s Content Pool
NOTES:

*Belfast is not included in this article as it is not included in the NPA region.

 

Kainuun Opisto Oy – Cultural Trips in the Footsteps of  the Kalevala

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Kainuun Opisto is a community college and course centre open to all.  The institution is located in Paltamo, on the shores of Lake Oulujärvi. They offer conference and training services, facilities for parties as well as accommodation and catering services. The story of the institution goes back more than 100 years.

Our Literary Tourism Plans:

Tours of 1-4 days to destinations around Kainuu region that Elias Lönnrot visited when he was the district doctor and was collecting the poems for the Finnish national epic The Kalevala. Combining literature with culture, landscapes and nature bringing the tourists a broader understanding of the literature. In addition to culture (music, theatre) and literature, the tour products will involve different experiences  such as wellness, exercise, traditional medicine (Kalevala style), nature experiences etc. Transport, accommodation and meals will also be arranged.

The products are targeted both for domestic and international audience, since the work of Elias Lönnrot has given inspiration to international authors, artists and other national epics.

Contact Us:

 

 

 

 

 

Suomussalmi Municipality – Hossa Storytelling Bootcamp

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Suomussalmi municipality is located in the northern part of Kainuu region, bordering Russia. Known for its pristine nature, strong cultural sector and history. Raate village in Suomussalmi was the setting of decisive battles during the Winter War in 1940.

Hossa national park in the farthest corner of the municipality invites you to experience both its gentle and mystical side. The beauty of the easily negotiable paths amid the pine trees leading from one ridge to the next and the crystal-clear waters are a joy to behold. The landscape’s mysticism derives from the ancient paintings of Värikallio and the monumental canyon lake Julma-Ölkky.

Supporting the distinctive culture of the region and developing the area of Hossa national park are priorities for Suomussalmi municipality.

Our Literary Tourism Plans:

Development and piloting a storytelling boot camp in the area of Hossa national park, bringing 10-12 writers from literature, theatre and movie industries in for 5 days in 2021. If found feasible, this will be continued as an annual event.

The boot camp will combine a traditional residency model with new ways of working, possibly creating novel, cross-sectoral development ideas and networks and interesting story lines. It will be about creating new contents at the international, creative writing camp for professional writers, but also about interactive public events, that will inspire and help new writers.

The public events include a storytelling/ scriptwriting training event, where the participants could discuss their own scripts with professionals and a bonfire event where a famous writer will tell about his/ her writing process.  The open events will be broadcasted online.

Contact Us:

 

 

Eino Leino House Foundation – Kullervo Play

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Poet Eino Leino was born in 1878 in Paltaniemi, where you will find the Eino Leino traditional house, built according to Leino’s childhood home. Today the traditional house is maintained by Eino Leino House Foundation dedicated to showcasing the poet’s life and extensive work.  The foundation promotes culture related to the house and its surroundings. One of the important tasks of the foundation is to support research related to both Elias Lönnrot and Eino Leino and the publication of related literature in various forms.

The Eino Leino House is rented out for various occasions especially summer weddings. During the summer holidays, the house also hosts a café, a summer theatre and other events. In summer 2019 the summer performances by Giant Opera was performed in the open air at the Eino Leino House, involving a cast of up to 80 Dutch and Finnish singers, actors, and dancers.

Our Literary Tourism Plans:

With the support from Spot-lit project, Eino Leino house foundation plans to write, direct and pilot one of the cornerstones of Finnish literature, the story of Kullervo, as a play. The play will focus on the Kalevala, the life and work of Elias Lönnrot and the Kainuu region and will include song and dance depicting the Kalevala ‘story telling’ tradition.

 

 

Spotlight on Literary Tourism Product Innovation Programme in Northern Ireland & Cavan and Monaghan.

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Lead Partner on the Spot-lit Project, ICBAN, has recently selected seven projects to participate in the PIP programme and receive innovation supports in the programme territory of Northern Ireland and counties Cavan and Monaghan.

Iniskeen Enterprise Development Group – Patrick Kavanagh Literature Project

The Patrick Kavanagh Centre is a visitor experience and performance space dedicated to the life and work of poet Patrick Kavanagh.  It is newly refurbished and will open to the public in July 2020.  The visitor experience includes a series of six memory boxes augmented by touch-screen terminals, each dealing with a period or aspect of Kavanagh’s life and work. The centrepiece of the experience is a stunningly evocative 15-minute film featuring readings of Kavanagh’s poetry.

With support from the Spot-lit project, a cluster of authentic experiences will be created, using literature as a theme – for visitors to enjoy over a day/ two days in this rural area. There has been substantial investment in the new Visitor Experience in the Kavanagh Centre recently but the Group’s view is that the key to the success of the Centre will be to link and further integrate it with the Kavanagh Trail and Kavanagh Country more widely, as a pivotal element of a rural tourism cluster, better combined with other priority segments of the market to give wider appeal, including heritage, food and drink, walking and cycling.

It is envisaged that the Kavanagh Centre – which tells the story of the poet himself – his life, work and the influences that shaped his writing – will be the central ‘experience’ in this cluster and that sites/activities/attractions/businesses will be promoted to visitors who will choose which ‘experience’ best suits them, so that it is tailor-made to their own needs.

Patrick Kavanagh Centre

Droimnín Destinations

Droimnín Destinations is a new business established with the intention of providing specialised tourism initiatives working with a range of stakeholders throughout County Cavan – from the Chamber of Commerce, adventure centres, genealogy, museums, heritage, accommodation sector, theatres, and all artists.

The Spot-lit project will assist in developing bespoke literary tours to the domestic, European, and International ‘culturally curious’ tourist. These tours will explore Cavan’s rich literary heritage through a culturally packed experience of art, music, drama, the virtual and the adventurous reality.

The trails will follow writers of the past and their ties to Cavan; Dean Jonathan Swift, Brinsley Sheridan, Charlotte Brook and the more contemporary names of Tom MacIntyre, Dermot Healy and Michael Harding. Events will also offer avant garde exhibitions from young award-winning artists and a chance to take part in workshops on sculpture, ceramics, contemporary crafts as well as participating in literary performances that combine music with the spoken word.  Droimnín Destinations will offer workshops that combine poetry, art and place in unique Irish traditional settings that explore Cavan in its richest literary and artistic sense. Input from the community and local businesses sector will realise a totally distinctive experience for the intelligent traveller.

The Light Theatre Company – Bloomsday Festival

The Light Theatre Company was conceived by Director, Alistair Livingstone and Writer, Csilla Toldy as a vehicle to develop and perform high quality theatre in small alternative venues. To date it has produced Bananas, a one-woman piece based on mental ill health, homelessness and recovery for the East Belfast Festival and subsequently toured it and The Emigrant Woman’s Story, to various venues in the North and South of Ireland.

The Spot-lit project will help the development and delivery of a new Bloomsday Festival in Rostrevor, County Down. It will also help to expand local links associated with CS Lewis, Charles Dickens and Seamus Heaney. The Light Theatre Company view the Spot-lit project as an opportunity to capitalise on the literary and creative heritage and potential of Rostrevor and County Down as a tourism generator.

Todd’s Leap Activity Centre –Farrell’s Lanavoye

Established 30 years ago, Todd’s Leap Activity Centre was the brainchild of Benny O’Hanlon. When Benny acquired the two neighbouring farmlands, beside his family home, his inspiration for Todd’s Leap, came from a verse of a poem that he had been taught in school.  The poem ‘Lanavoye’ by the local writer Patrick Farrell (1856 – 1938) laments of the ‘happy colony’ that once resided on the beautiful glens of Lanavoye but through time had emigrated away. Patrick writes ‘oh would kind fate where brave men lived, let joy once more prevail. With the children’s merry laughter, ringing on the evening gale’. Coincidently, the glens of Lanavoye make up the 100 acres of rugged picturesque countryside, where Todd’s Leap is based.  Patrick’s vision was adopted by Ben as the vision for Todd’s Leap and along with his wife & four children, Ben would set about creating an outdoor attraction, that would welcome people back to ‘Lanavoye’ and joy would once more prevail with merry laughter ringing through the glen.

With the assistance of the Spot-lit project, Todd’s Leap will host a seven-day, free admission poetry festival with guest speakers, readings, activities, old traditions, music, food stalls, story-telling, trails workshops, and poetry competitions. An outdoor literacy schools’ programmes will be developed, which combine creativity and literacy in an instructor-led outdoor environment. The programmes will include outdoor trails, storytelling, poetry reading, reading and writing activities, outdoor adventure activities and drama workshops. A Writers’ retreats will also be developed, hosted by writers Shirley Rocks and Eddie McClenaghan, that will offer sanctuary in peaceful log cabins to allow writers to create their own work and come together with like-minded writers. They will also be given the opportunity to explore the works of Patrick Farrell and other local writers.

Todds Leap

Lurgan & North Armagh George Russell Festival Society (GRFS)

The Society runs an Annual Festival in Lurgan, County Armagh centred around the heritage of George Russell – better known as ‘A.E.’. The Festival includes various talks and a historic walking tour as well as poetry readings and ‘open mic’ nights. As Russell was a fantastic artist as well as poet, author, editor and publisher, the Festival includes exhibitions of his art.

The Spot-lit project will help to build the AE Annual Festival in Lurgan as a successful and sustainable literary tourism offering. The first step is to establish a strong online presence. Spot-lit will also help to create a literary hub based on AE’s myriad literary connections within a 20-30 mile radius of Lurgan, and working with the support of the John Hewitt Society.

Lurgan George Russell Festival Society organisers Cathy McGibbon and Michael McKernan

 

Armagh Rhymers – Digital Guidebook

The Armagh Rhymers are one of the most celebrated traditional music and theatre ensembles on the island of Ireland. Since we were founded in 1970’s, we have delighted audiences in schools, festivals throughout Ireland and around the world. Through music, storytelling and drama, we provide an experience that is both entertaining and educational. Our colourful costumes evoke a sense of tradition and history and encapsulate the spirit of the Wren boys and the ancient house visiting traditions of Ireland, where the kitchen floor became the stage. The Rhyming tradition is a celebration of the ‘theatre of the people’ and has inspired many poets such as Seamus Heaney, Brendan Kennelly, John Montague and John Hewitt. Cualinge is set at Emain Mhacha, just outside the city.

Armagh is the ancient primatial and ecclessiastical capital of Ireland. It’s poem and song traditions are many and linked to the beautiful landscape which helped to inspire artists across centuries. Today Armagh retains these traditions, the music and liteary scene is very vibrant and the Armagh Rhymers uphold ancient traditions springing from the landscape and its people.

Our project is a digital guidebook launching in early 2021, using The Armagh Rhymers stories,  poems, music and art to take people on a virtual journey of our area, to help them learn more and encourage them to visit and experience our rich culture for themselves. Our guidebook wants to highlight the hidden stories and how they interweave from ancient times to modern poets.

Navan Fort: Image Credit Charles Freger

 

Strabane Business Improvement District – Flann O’Brien Literary Programme

Strabane BID Company was set up in 2016 to increase the prosperity of Strabane town by delivering a programme of events and supports to encourage people to live, shop and visit the town. This is delivered via three strands – supporting local businesses, accessing finance and delivering an arts and culture calendar of events for the town. In addition to supporting local musicians and artists through our annual festivals and events, it was recognised that further development was needed on the literary tourism offering. Strabane has a rich culture of poets and literary greats, including the greatly talented and globally celebrated Flann O’Brien and the Strabane BID wanted to celebrate his work and showcase his heritage.

With support from the Spot-lit project, a programme of events will be developed to celebrate Flann O’Brien and his work. This project has the potential to become a very significant cultural tourism product for Strabane as Brian O’Nolan / Flann O’Brien / Myles Na Gcopaleen is a literary figure of international renown and his birth place originates within the Bowling Green Square of Strabane Town.  It is envisaged that the project programme will be launched in October as this is the month of Brian O’Nolans birth and will be hosted in various venues across Strabane Town. These connections will be explored and exploited through music, drama, heritage and discussion.  A programme of literary initiatives will be developed to celebrate the life of Flann O’Brien (Myles Na Gcopaleen) and his world-renowned works. These will build on the grass roots appreciation of the author, as well as developing school and community group workshops, and completing a hiking trail.

In tandem with the SME Product Incubation Programme, a new Literary Tourism Model known as ‘Wilde Things’ will be developed by fellow Northern Ireland Spot-lit partner, Arts over Borders. Wilde Things is based around the schooldays of Oscar Wilde in Enniskillen and is another opportunity for local businesses to develop new literary tourism products and services through the project.

Partners: