George Mackay Brown

At 7.30pm on January 19th, The Birnam Institute Players present The Watcher by George Mackay Brown. Birnam Arts and Conference Centre has rapidly established itself as a hugely successful new multi-arts and conference centre right in the heart of Scotland. The Watcher is a story of a stranger, whose appearance changes the life of a Scottish fishing community.

I am a great admirer of George Mackay Brown, and would also suggest you read A Calendar of Love, his first collection of short stories, the themes he has developed over his career are set out; an obsession with his home Orkney, its dark and violent Viking past, the cycle of the seasons, and the struggle of its inhabitants. The characters of these stories; the fishermen, the crofters, the farmers and the wild tinkers; are all struggling to live their lives and find their identities in a harsh habitat and a cruel age. The stories in this collection share the same melancholy tone and sense of the ceaseless renewal made possible by the natural cycle. A Calendar of Love.