It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Sunday, December 19th, Noon: A Christmas Carol – The Big Read
At the Seanchai Winter Holiday setting.
A Seanchai Library reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has long been a seasonal tradition in Second Life. Most often since 2012, the reading has been associated with the Library’s end-of year celebration of all things Dickens with the annual presentation of The Dickens Project, conceived and coordinated by Caledonia Skytower.
However, whilst presenting a seasonal setting for their events in the run-up and around Christmas, for 2021, Seanchai Library is taking a break from the full quota of activities for the Project – but they will be presenting the highlight of the Project in the form of The Big Read – a cover-to-cover reading of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol.
First published in 1843, with illustrations by John Leech, A Christmas Carol is a story with which we’re all familiar: the redemption of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge through the visits of four ghosts: his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
Part secular story, part Christian allegory, A Christmas Carol was written at a time when Victorians were exploring and re-evaluating the traditions of Christmas “old” and “new” – carol singing, the growing use of Christmas trees and the sending / receiving of Christmas cards. Partially inspired by the stories of other popular authors together with his own experiences whilst a boy, A Christmas Carol was the fourth Christmas story Dickens wrote, but its themes of redemption, giving, kindness and the ability to transform the lives of others struck a collective chord among the novella’s readers, one that has continued to be heard down the decades since its publication.
In this very special reading, Seanchai regulars Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Aoife Lorefield, Dubhna Rhiadra, and Caledonia Skytower are joined by Gloriana Maertens to take us back to Victorian London and this timeless tale.
Monday, December 20th, 19:00: Prometheus
Gyro Muggins reads the final volume of Philip José Farmer’s tale of Father John Carmody, and ex-con who painfully grew a conscience, but who is still not entirely beyond benefiting himself.
Having been tasked with travelling to the planet Wildenwoolly entirely by his own means, and entirely without funds, Carmody find himself travelling with an unexpected – and unwanted – companion, the egg of a large sentient bird called a horowitz. Firmly attached to his chest with no obvious means to remove it, the egg leaves Carmody with no option but to travel to the homeworld of the horowitz.
In Prometheus, Carmody reaches Feral, the planet of the horowitzes – and finds himself cast into the role of a kind of Prometheus. Except that, rather than bringing light to that world, his role is that of an educator bringing moral enlightenment to the bird civilisation.
Tuesday, December 21st
12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym
With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.
19:00: Festivus
With R. Dismantled.
Wednesday, December 22nd 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.
There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.
There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.
Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.
Thursday, December 23rd, 19:00: The Night Before the Night Before
The return of a Seanchai tradition with Kayden Oconnell, Aoife Lorefield, and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.
Friday, December 24th, 14:00: Christmas Eve Skating Party
With DJ Caledonia Skytower at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday skating pond.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 