International Scottish star and darling of New York
theatre Alan Cumming is a patron of the recently formed National
Theatre for Scotland. It’s taken over a hundred years of lobbying to
achieve but it’s now with us and Alan has let it be known that he’s
keen to be involved and apply the greasepaint once again in his native
land. Intergalactic Scottish star David Tennant, currently the BBC’s
iconic Dr Who, is also interested. He’s on record as saying "I fully
intend to go back to the theatre at some point and, if it was something
for the National Theatre of Scotland, all the better."
Scotland makes a
vibrant, contemporary contribution to the artistic world through events
such as the Edinburgh International Festival, world ranking authors and
musicians.
The creative juices help the flow of visitors to Scotland. Edinburgh
may be in a unique position amongst cities in producing a major
international best seller in each of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Indeed, the city might claim one in the 17th century too if we go back
to the Edinburgh roots of King James of Bible fame.
Edinburgh publisher Canongate recently launched a
new series of books looking at myths, with its first written by
Canadian Margaret Atwood. So this seems an appropriate time to have a
fresh look at the myths and stereotypes attached to Scotland and the
Scots.
Every March we celebrate World Book Day. The
development of the book and book culture in Scotland is the subject of
a major project at Edinburgh University's Centre for the History of the
Book, lead by Bill Bell. The project looks specifically at literacy and
reading practices, relations among publishers, authors and readers and
media production technology. It highlights Scotland's immense
contribution to the story of the book both within Scotland and
internationally.
Scotland
and the US have strong bonds – demonstrated in the US 2000 Census where
9.2 million Americans confirmed their Scottish heritage, and a high
proportion of these are in California. The number of people proclaiming
their "Scottishness" dramatically increased between the Census in 1990
and 2000 so it's clearly something to be proud about.
This year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival was the first
to take place in the new Storytelling Centre on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
One of the world’s first purpose-built venues for storytelling, the
Scottish Centre has attracted acclaim at home and wide international
interest. So what is the story?
Scotland's Read of Choice by Kenneth Stephen. From the innovative deductions of Sherlock Holmes to the
conundrums facing Inspector John Rebus, Scottish writers have turned
the country into a powerhouse for page-turning crime fiction.
It is one of the most significant photographs ever taken. It was a
world first, and a breathtaking innovation for its time. This humble
image of a knot of tartan ribbon still resides at 14 India Street,
Edinburgh, an address that was once the private home of its creator,
and is now a public museum of his life. For this is the first permanent
colour photograph ever taken, and it was made in 1861 in Scotland by
James Clerk Maxwell – one of this country's many pioneering minds.
The sight of Scottish actors portraying ancient Greek heroes is one
that has become familiar to the cinema-going public around the world,
with King Agamemnon being brought to life on the silver screen by both
Brian Cox and Sean Connery (in Troy and Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits
respectively), and most recently by Glaswegian actor Gerard Butler
starring as the iconic Spartan King Leonidas in the smash hit 300.
