Events

Our buildings remain closed for events due to coronavirus (COVID-19), but you can take part in an online talk or workshop. Update on Library opening

Page updated: 12 July.

Online events

See also: Online workshops

'A kind of journal I sometimes write': Henrietta Liston in Turkey

Henrietta Liston (1751-1828), was a diarist, botanist and the wife of Scottish diplomat Robert Liston (1742-1836). Henrietta kept a travel journal between the years 1812-1814, when the Listons lived in Constantinople for Robert's role as British Ambassador to the Sublime Porte.

Curator Dora Petherbridge introduces this travel journal and a selection of other fascinating documents to tell the story of Henrietta Liston's life in the Ottoman Empire.

Thursday 15 July
11.00-11.30
Free. Book 'Henrietta Liston in Turkey' via Eventbrite.

When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.

Fresh Ink: The launch of new writing

In a bid to support artists, as well as provide a platform for the diverse voices that make up 21st century Scotland, the National Library of Scotland invited 10 emerging writers to respond to the year 2020.

The result is a series of brilliant evocations of living through a time of unique change. These works encapsulate the personal and the political, the private and the public, the sadness and the isolation of lockdown, but also those new and different moments of contact and empathy.

In this event, the 10 Fresh Ink artists will have the opportunity to talk with writer Nadine Aisha Jassat about their works, creative experiences, and artistic practices.

Thursday 15 July
18.30-19.30
Free. Book 'Fresh Ink' via Eventbrite.

When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.

Local films go global: An example from Aberdeen 

More and more moving image content from the National Library of Scotland's collections is available to view online by people all over the world. 

Some of the catalogue records for these films lack the local knowledge of the time. Can local communities help to improve them? National Library of Scotland Curator Ann Cameron and David Oswald from Aberdeen Local Heritage Library discuss this question, and share an example with a film screening.

The collection of 'local topical' films featured in this event are by Ernest Bromberg from Aberdeen. Ernest Bromberg opened Aberdeen's first and only News Cinema in Diamond Street in September 1936. 

Wednesday 4 August
15.00-16.00
Free. Book 'Local films go global' via Eventbrite.

When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.

A voyage around the Scottish islands

Join the National Library of Scotland's Map Curator, Chris Fleet, for a fully illustrated excursion through Scotland's islands.

Our circumnavigation of Scotland will use selected maps to provide insights into the distinctive history of particular islands. During the voyage we will also look at who made these maps and how they did it.

Tuesday 10 August
14.00-15.00
Free. Book 'The Scottish islands' via Eventbrite.

When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.

Tuathanas nan Creutairean: Animal Farm Goes Gaelic

On 1 January 2021, a large body of work by George Orwell entered the public domain. His timeless novella 'Animal Farm' — voted one of Time magazine's 100 best English-language novels — has become the first Orwell book to be translated into Gaelic.

Acclaimed writer Angus Peter Campbell discusses his work translating the famous writer, how Orwell's work is still so relevant today and how translation can help towards connecting communities.

Tuesday 17 August
14.00-15.00
Free. Book 'Animal Farm' via Eventbrite.

When you book, you will receive a link to join the session, delivered on the Zoom video conferencing service. Your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.