Month: February 2013

Once again, the Seanchai Library will be presenting a round of stories and readings in Voice this coming week, with the continuation of a number of stories and also delving into Longfellow’s classic narrative poem.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday 10th February

13:30 – Tea-time at Baker Street – The Adventure of the Gloria Scott

Holmes himself recounts the tale of the very first case in which he employed his powers of deduction to solve a mystery.

In his college days, Holmes was invited by his friend, Victor Trevor to spend a month at the family’s estate in Norfolk. While there, Holmes amazed Trevor’s father, a justice of the peace, with his powers of reasoning by correctly identifying the elder Trevor had made his fortune in the goldfields in Australia and was once connected to someone with the initials “J. A.” whom he wanted to forget.

Holmes himself is somewhat surprised when the elder Trevor passes out in shock at the accuracy of his deductions, and is less-than-convinced by the older man’s explanation that Holmes had touched upon a sore spot, and that “J.A.” had once been a lover.

Perceiving he was making his host’s father uncomfortable with his presence, Holmes opts to leave, but before he can do so, he witnesses the elder Trevor inebriated after receiving an unexpected guest  – a shipmate he had known some 30 years before. This shipmate, called Hudson, came seeking employment. Seven weeks after his departure, Holmes is contacted by Victor Trevor and learns that things at the Norfolk estate are very much amiss, that Victor’s father is near death – and everything seems to revolve around Hudson, the former shipmate and now estate employee. Thus, Holmes returns to Norfolk and embarks on his first adventure – that of the Gloria Scott.

Caledonia Skytower returns to bring us more from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes continues!

18:00 Mary Poppins (at Magicland Park)

Made famous through the hugely successful 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews and a wobbly accented Dick van Dyke (albeit an adaptation despised by Travers herself), and more recently the focus of a successful West End and Broadway stage production, the adventures of the famous umbrella piloting nanny need no real introduction here in terms of their story.

First published in 1934, Mary Poppins was actually the first in a series of stories about the character written by Travers between 1934 and 1988, all illustrated by Mary Shephard, the daughter of Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows illustrator, E.H. Shephard. Mary actually took the job on account of her father being too busy with other work, and later became regarded as a co-author of the tales.

Join Caladonia at Magicland Park as she continues with Part 3 of this magical tale.

Monday 11th February, 19:00 – “Who you callin’ Valentine?”

Crap Mariner returns with a host of 100 word stories with a theme to suit this romantic time of year…

Tuesday 12th February, 19:00: Inkspell

Faerie Maven-Pralou bring us the conclusion of Cornelia Funke’s young adult which forms the second part of her Inkworld trilogy. The books chronicle the adventures of teenager Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that she and her father, a bookbinder named Mo, have the unusual ability to bring characters from books into the real world when reading aloud. Mostly set in Northern Italy and the parallel world of the fictional Inkheart book, the central story arc concerns the magic of books, their characters and creatures, and the art of reading.

In Inkspell, a year has passed since the events related in Inkheart, the first book in the series. Not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of Inkheart, a book that has characters that come to life. Resa is back. The fire-eater, Dustfinger, wants to go back to his wife daughters-who are in the story. When he finds a crazy, self-absorbed psycho storyteller, Orpheus, who can read him back into the book, he goes into the pages. Soon Farid convinces Meggie to read him into the book so he can warn Dustfinger of Basta. But Meggie has figured out how to read herself and Farid into the book Inkheart.

Wednesday 13th February, 19:00: Quite a Year for Plums

Anyone who has read the best-selling Mama Makes Up Her Mind or listened to Bailey White’s commentaries on NPR knows that she is a storyteller of inimitable wit and charm. Now, in her stunningly accomplished first novel, she introduces us to the peculiar yet lovable people who inhabit a small town in south Georgia.

Meet serious, studious Roger, the peanut pathologist and unlikely love object of half the town’s women. Meet Roger’s ex-mother-in-law, Louise, who teams up with an ardent typographer in an attempt to attract outer-space invaders with specific combinations of letters and numbers. And meet Della, the bird artist who captivates Roger with the sensible but enigmatic notes she leaves on things she throws away at the Dumpster.

Kayden Oconnell is joined by Caledonia Skytower as they continue to read from the novel.

Thursday 14th February, 19:00: The Courtship of Miles Standish

Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the shore of the ocean,
Thinking of many things, and most of all of Priscilla;
And as if thought had the power to draw to itself, like the loadstone,
Whatsoever it touches, by subtile laws of its nature,
Lo! as he turned to depart, Priscilla was standing beside him.

Written in 1858 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and set against the backdrop of a fierce Indian war, this narrative poem tells the tales of a love triangle between three Pilgrims: Miles Standish, Priscilla Mullens, and John Alden.

A work of fiction, or a tale handed down over generations? Longfellow claimed he was relating oral history handed down through the generations of his family. Mullens, Standish and Alden were the names of real-life Pilgrims, but skeptics dismiss the poem as folklore, and the historical evidence is inconclusive. Nevertheless, the poem was very popular in nineteenth-century America, immortalizing the Mayflower Pilgrims.

Join Shandon Loring as he presents Longfellow’s poem for Valentine’s Day.

Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and additions to the week’s schedule.

Note that throughout January and February, all donations to Seanchai Library SL will go to the real-world charity, Doctors Without Borders! Have questions? IM or notecard Caledonia Skytower.

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