Join us for a special two-part event featuring an award-winning documentary exploring geopoetics.

As part of this year’s Curious festival, we’re showing Expressing the Earth, an award-winning documentary from the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics.

Set against the backdrop of Scotland’s landscapes and seascapes, eight artists and scientists offer interpretations of what is known as geopoetics – a movement exploring interdisciplinary ways of understanding the Earth and humanity’s place within it.

The film also reflects on the life and work of leading Scottish poet and founder of the geopoetics community, Kenneth White, to whom this film is dedicated. The film covers Kenneth at various stages of his life, leading up to his death in 2023.

After the screening, there will be a Q&A with the film’s director and producer. This is a chance to ask questions and find out more about some of the film’s themes in depth.

Film duration: 1hour 20 minutes, followed by Q&A

Geopoetics workshop:

On the same day, there will be a small workshop exploring geopoetics in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. Spaces for the workshop are limited - book your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1993777421940?aff=oddtdtcreator

Important points to note

This event is suitable for age 16+

Event format: This event is a film screening followed by a Q&A. There may be some interactive parts of the event for the Q&A but you can just sit back and enjoy watching.

Filming: Photography may take place at this event. Please let a member of the RSE Public Engagement team know if you do not want to be photographed.

SPEAKER

Norman Bissell

Honorary President, Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, Film Producer

Norman Bissell is an author and the recently retired Director of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics. His acclaimed poetry collection Slate, Sea and Sky and novel Barnhill about George Orwell’s last years are published by Luath Press. His latest creative non-fiction book Living on an Island Expressing the Earth tells how he came from Glasgow to live on the Isle of Luing in Argyll and about his outstanding contribution to geopoetics over many years.

He has considerable experience of providing talks and creative writing workshops at all levels and he successfully crowdfunded and raised sponsorship to make the award winning film Expressing the Earth. As its producer, he has taken part in Q&As and is arranging screenings of the film throughout the UK and internationally. Further information: www.normanbissell.com and www.geopoetics.org.uk.

SPEAKER

Professor Patrick Corbett FRSE

Co-Director Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, Prof Emeritus, Heriot-Watt University

Prof Patrick Corbett is a retired Professor of Petroleum Geoengineering at Heriot-Watt University. He spent ten years in the oil industry working as a geologist in the UK, Netherlands and Indonesia. He has a PhD and DSc from Heriot-Watt University in Petroleum Engineering. He served as Head of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Head of the Energy Academy, Court Member and Watt Club Vice-President whilst at Heriot-Watt. He is a Fellow of the RSE. He has served on the Board of the Scottish Poetry Library and is a member of the School of Poets there. He is a Trustee of the Burngate Purbeck Stone Centre in Dorset. He is now a geopoet and Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics.

SPEAKER

Glenda Rome

Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, Film Director

Glenda Rome is a Scottish filmmaker, originally from rural Dumfries and now living near Edinburgh. She moved to the city at eighteen to study photography and film, beginning a lifelong pursuit of how poetry and image shape the way we perceive the world. For over two decades, Glenda has worked as a freelance filmmaker, cinematographer, and workshop facilitator, creating films and projects that bridge art, activism, and education. She has also worked extensively with young people across the world, including disenfranchised youth and young offenders, helping them use film as a means of expression and empowerment. Her debut feature, Expressing the Earth, marks a return to her first love — the Scottish landscape — and explores how the ideas of poet-thinker Kenneth White resonate deeply with her own creative journey.

CHAIR

Dr Stuart Monro (FRSE)

Chair, Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)

Stuart Monro, Chair of SAMS, has a first-class degree in geology at Aberdeen University and PhD from Edinburgh University. His early career with the BGS involved mapping and applying geological data to environmental issues. He was Scientific Director of the Scottish Consortium for Rural Research, fostering collaboration in rural research and founding Scientific Director of Dynamic Earth helping the public engage with the processes that shaped the Earth, Earth Science tutor with the Open University (OU), Trustee of the National Museums Scotland and the first Independent Co-Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Council. He was a member of the OU Council, the Cour

Description supplied by the event organiser.