The New Curiosity Shop

George Orwell (pic from Wikipedia)

George Orwell’s diaries are to be re-produced as a blog to mark their 70th anniversary. From the 9th August you will be able to follow, in displaced real time, his thoughts on Europe descending into War, plus more mundane activities such as  how many eggs his chickens laid.

Visit: George Orwell’s diaries.

Can’t be bothered lifting that twenty kilo bestseller while basking in the sunshine? Why not listen to a good book instead? We’ve found a site which offers educational listening, too. This appeals to our lazier sides and makes us feel that the time lying in the sun is well spent, actually learning something. Check out LearnOutLoud.com and see if you like the idea too.

We like A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – one of the best popular science books of recent years. Or, if you prefer classic literature, what about A Tale Of Two Cities by Dickens or London’s South Sea Tales, especially good if you’re holidaying in the south seas?

In the wake of the release of a new film and book about the 1950 theft and subsequent recovery of the  Stone of Destiny, Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has claimed that that particular Stone is a fake and that the original has been lost for 700 years.

The Stone, on which Scotland’s kings were traditionally crowned, was stolen from Scone Palace by England’s King Edward I, in 1296, and kept in Westminster Abbey until it was returned to Scotland in 1996. Even, then, the one returned to Westminster Abbey may have been a fake made by the Glasgow stonemason who repaired the stone which broke in two during the escapade.

Alex Salmond claims that ancient descriptions of the Stone describe a black shiny object, not the dull grey stone kept in Edinburgh Castle today.

More in the Times.

Literary Landscapes’ on www.ambaile.org.uk is a collaborative project between Am Baile and Highland Libraries. It uncovers authors inspired by the Highlands and was launched by award-winning novelist, poet and publisher James Robertson who features in the Literary Landscapes listings.

Literary Landscapes is an interactive map leading to biographical information, images, sound files and bibliographies of writers inspired by the landscapes of the Highlands and Islands. It currently covers over 30 authors, past and present, from Caithness to Kintyre and from Nairn to Portree and North Uist. It will continue to expand to include writers from Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, Perthshire and Argyll.

The authors include poets, novelists and historians, who either live in the Highlands, come from the Highlands, write about the Highlands, or set their books in the Highlands. The entry for each author includes a booklist, with links to the Highland Libraries online catalogue.

Am Baile is a bilingual website which can be viewed in either Gaelic or English. An interactive map allows users to click on specific points to discover more about writers associated with a particular location.

A feature of Literary Landscapes is the inclusion of sound recordings which allow anyone to listen to authors reading passages from their own works. Typically this is a piece of descriptive text – it could be describing a mountain, a village, a journey, or local customs. Extracts from past authors are read by local school children and other local residents, in Gaelic or English.

Among the writers featured so far are Neil Gunn, Hugh Miller, Sir John Sinclair, Osgood Mackenzie, Clio Gray, Angus Peter Campbell, James Robertson and Katharine Stewart.

Today, the people of Sri Lanka honoured the late Sir Arthur C Clarke who had made their country his home since 1956. Sir Arthur died on Wednesday, aged 90 and, today he lay in state at his home in Colombo while Sri Lankans from all walks of life came to pay their respects.

Sir Arthur was one of the twentieth century’s greatest contributors to science fiction and was hugely influential on many of today’s writers. He also published papers on aerospace engineering and was the first to describe the use of geostationary orbits for communications satellites.

More from Associated Press…

The US Library of Congress has overturned last year’s decision to classify Scottish literary works as “English.” Pressure from the Congress’ Friends of Scotland Caucus and many Americans of Scottish descent has brought about a rethink of this cultural blunder. More from the Houston Chronicle… 

A new book out, Flat Earth News, takes a good look at journalism nowadays, arguing that newspaper stories are often recycled pieces or, as Roy Greenslade in the Guardian describes the book: “it amounts to a full-frontal assault on the newspapers for routinely publishing dodgy stories.”

As promised, here is our latest addition to our growing course catalogue. Understanding journalism is aimed at anyone who is wants to find out what is involved in becoming a journalist. The course is as much practical as theoretical, and you will have an opportunity to carry out practical assignments to reinforce what you have learned through the course.

Understanding Journalism demystifies the potentially glamorous field of journalism by showing how it works; and what is involved in becoming a journalist.

To find out more, visit the course information page:  Understanding Journalism.