Moonstruck and Adrift

Wandered past the telly last night and saw James May in an aeroplane with a NASA pilot, hanging from the rim of the world. They were cruising at the outer edge of the planet's atmosphere, gazing down at the curve of the earth's sphere. A band of blue sky below, a great dark space above. 'That might be a view of eternity,' May murmered. 'Technically speaking, you are correct,' the pilot said.

I so want to write about space and space travel. To climb imaginatively into that cockpit ( in the real world I can't stand heights) and cross over the edge. To go with the rocketeers and starjourners in a tin can into the astral realm and hang adrift - with or without strains of the Blue Danube in my ears ...

Anyway, I had another giddy moment later when I checked my e-mails and saw that tickets for our event at the Space Centre had SOLD OUT within hours of an article appearing in the Leicester Mercury. All 150 seats. Never underestimate the power of a well-paced press release (all credit there to the Press Office at the University which is sponsoring our Northern Lights Spectacle.)

Where does that leave disappointed punters - including friends of my own that I hadn't mailed yet? The department is taking contact details for people who want to be informed if/when we re-run the event. We're already thinking we'll need a much bigger venue next time so fingers crossed - there might well be a re-run.

As for me, I'm moonstruck, giddy and adrift ...

Northern Lights at Space Centre

So at last, after months of preparation, this show is on the road. And I can't wait to shake out the sari and count-down to lift-off in the Shuttle Suite! The same event which wowed audiences at the Science's Musuem's Dana Centre will now to be staged in the exciting venue of the National Space Centre in Leicester. It's next month and it's FREE - book early and don't miss out!

Northern Lights Spectacular on Tuesday 23rd February 2010

A magical fusion of poetry, physics and film, revealing the spectacle of the Northern Lights. Marvel at the world's first 3-D film of the aurora borealis, hear ancient Arctic legends and let two auroral physicists unravel the secrets of the lights. Featuring Professor Stan Cowley & Dr Darren Wright, poet/performer Siobhan Logan and film-maker Brian McClave.

The sell-out show from London's Science Museum comes to Leicester!

7.30 - 9pm in Shuttle Suite, National Space Centre, Exploration Drive, Leicester

Free entry but ticket only. Bookings from: Kiri Rhodes (Dept of Physics and Astronomy)
Email: kr124@le.ac.uk Tel.: 0116 252 3570 during office hours. Book early to avoid disappointment.

'This event rolled scientific and artistic interpretations of the Northern Lights – both equally beautiful – into one.' (Holly Cave, Dana Centre at London's Science Museum)

Polar Embarkations

As my profile says, writing takes you places. Yesterday I headed west to catch up with Susan Richardson in Cardiff. Beside the Bay, we took in the Captain Scott white mosaic sculpture before diving into the Norwegian Church cafe. Cardiff, she told me, was twinned with Bergen and was Scott's departure point. As I tucked into a Norwegian Fisherman's Platter (delicious sweet-cured herrings), we traded arctic obsessions and planned a collaboration. Susan's beautiful collection, Creatures of the Intertidal Zone, is drawn from her journeys to Iceland and other arctic countries in the footsteps of 2 Viking women. My own collection, Firebridge to Skyshore, similarly traces a journey to the arctic to gather stories of the Northern Lights.


It felt like the beginning of an expedition into some white unknown. We took stock, mapped directions, drew up costings. Where are we headed? North certainly. We want to tell our stories of the arctic to diverse audiences who are off the beaten track of arts events. We want to celebrate this frozen wilderness and its heritage even as the thaw sets in. We want to entertain, to bind with word spells. And we figure two polar poets can exert more magnetism than a lone voice. Between us, we can conjure Viking women, arctic explorers, reindeer herders, auroral scientists, penguins and polar bears. Right now, the ship is in harbour waiting on a name ( suggestions on a postcard please).

Meanwhile, back in Leicester, another collaboration is underfoot, this one taking the aurora borealis as its theme. Following two sell-out shows at London's Science Museum (Dana Centre), we have decided to bring this Northern Lights spectacular to the National Space Centre in Leicester. It looks likely to be February 2010. Two auroral scientists from the University will join film-maker Brian McClave and myself to present a fusion of physics, poetry and film of the Northern Lights. It should be a knock-out show in the dramatic Space Theatre and thanks to funding by Leicester University's Radio & Space Plasma Physics Group, it will be entirely free! (Keep checking my website for date and details which should soon be sorted).