Moffat
Book Events
Chairman’s
report to the Annual General Meeting, Jan 13 2014
At
last year’s AGM, I reminded members how far MBE had come since Marilyn Elliott
and Elizabeth Roberts started it in 2010.
At
the time of that first AGM, MBE had just held its first international
conference Russia Lessons and Legacy.
Since then, I am delighted to report that MBE has entered into a formal
partnership agreement with our Russian colleagues at the State Library for
Foreign Literature, VGBIL, in Moscow.
In
June last year, Marilyn Elliott stepped
down due to the pressure of her many other commitments. We understood her
reasons but miss her contribution.
We
owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Jim Hurren of Forestry Purposes LLP who
volunteered to take over the administration of MBE until this AGM.
Katherine
Clemmens of Moffat Books organized Murder
in Moffat - a crime weekend at Moffat’s Old Well Theatre. It was a great
success, enjoyed by all.
MBE’s
very grateful thanks are due to volunteer artist Sarah Watkins, of Carole’s Milk Bar in Well Street, Moffat.
She has updated the home page of our website, with a very eye-catching design
Forestry
Purposes LLP, sponsored applications for participation in Day of the Region
2013 and our ‘Creative Places’ bid for 2014. We secured grants from the British
Council and SEE wind farm community fund for our Sept 2013 Russian conference.
For
our Creative Place bid we faced competition from towns throughout Scotland of up
to 10,000 population. We had just 10 too many people in the town to get into
the up to 2500-population category. We did not make the shortlist.
However,
the application was good enough to merit the judges’ commendation. We were
delighted that Dumfries reached the shortlist.
Many
thanks are due to Alan Thomson, commissioned to carry out a whole slew of tasks
for MBE, including great work at our Translation
Transformed conference.
Under
our agreement with VGBIL, this second – and larger- international conference took
place in Moffat on the weekend of 20-22 Sept 2013. The theme was Translation Transformed., which produced
some memorable contributions. Fiona Hyslop MSP, Secretary of State for Culture
and Foreign Affairs was kind enough to launch the weekend. It was her first
visit to Moffat and I feel sure she will want to come again.
The
Russian delegates arrived on Wed Sept 18 and left Moffat on Wed Sept 25,
spending two full days either side of the conference in Southern Scotland. We
will not forget their enthusiastic shopping expeditions in Moffat, which added
in no small way to the town’s economy.
The
Future
We
were invited to participate in the UK-Russia
Year of Culture 2014 under the auspices of the British Council. A number of
events are planned.
These
include MOFFAT IN MOSCOW - a specially- commissioned photographic exhibit of Moffat
people and places, with interviews, to open in Moscow on October 2014.
Moffat
will host an exhibition of Russian arts and crafts including work by the
distinguished Moscow-based graphic artist Liudmila Semyatitskaya
.She is renowned for her ‘works on paper’, and although she has appeared
internationally, this will be her first exhibition in the UK
A
third international conference in Moffat is planned for October this year. This
celebrates the bicentenary of Russia’s polymath, Mikhail Lermontov (1814-41),.
He was an adored national poet, the painter of stunning landscapes, and a novelist
whose ‘A Hero of Our Time is
considered one of the great works of European literature. If he had he not been
killed in a duel – an occupational hazard for Russian poets- what else might he
have achieved?
In
addition, under the umbrella of HomeComing
Scotland, we shall welcome members of the Borders Learmonth clan from all
over the world; Mikhail Lermontov was a Learmonth by direct descent, and exceptionally
proud of his Scottish ancestry.
Students
who have attended ‘taster’ classes in Russian at Moffat Academy sponsored by
MBE will be able to join in this event, with the encouragement of Moffat
Academy’s head teacher, Mrs. Lesley Watson.
Last year, MBE
introduced the Moscow-based Institute of Translation to the Scottish Poetry
Library in Edinburgh. The first outcome will be new translations by contemporary
Scottish poets of Lermontov poems, to be published by Carcanet Press in Spring
2014.
Over
the year, MBE has made valuable regional contacts include Adrian Turpin, Director
of the Wigtown Book Festival; Carolyn Yates, Dumfries and Galloway’s Literature
Development Officer; and Stacey Paul of Destination Dumfries & Galloway. At
a national and UK level, we are in contact with the Scottish Government, and The
British Council.
In
support of this 2014 programme, we have applied to Annandale & Eskdale Area
Committee for funds to support a professional organizer who may also be able to
secure further funding,
Finally,
we continue to welcome new members and the fresh ideas and enthusiasm that they
bring.
Last
year I said ‘All this may seem very ambitious’. It was.
However,
the lesson of the Borders and the Wigtown Book Festivals is that big ideas can
sometimes be more achievable than something more modest.
Learning
this lesson, we have focused on developing sustainable, continuing,
partnerships, which will bring in international cultural visitors. .
In
this, our unique and fundamental asset is Moffat itself: our foreign visitors
have been entranced by the town and want to come back.
As
Chairman, I stepped into the shoes of Adam Dillon,
and quickly realized the opportunity that we have to put Moffat on the big map
as a centre of
creativity.
It
is now time to hand over to the next management committee, so may I, on behalf
of the departing board, give it our very best wishes for the future.
Andrew
Wheatcroft
13
January 2013
