PAST EVENT
Dr. Martin Shaw is a celebrated international storyteller, mythologist, award-winning author, and teacher. Dr. Shaw is widely regarded as one of the most exciting teachers of the mythic imagination. He is the author of seventeen books, including the award-winning A Branch From The Lightning Tree, Snowy Tower, and Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in the Age of Amnesia. Director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK, Shaw also devised and led the Oral Tradition course at Stanford University. His translations of Gaelic poetry and folklore (with Tony Hoagland) have been published in Orion Magazine, Poetry International, Kenyon Review, Poetry Magazine, and Mississippi Review. Current work includes The Nightingale and the Lion (a poetic rumination on the ecstasies, secret traditions and love myths of the west), and Courting the Dawn: Poems of Lorca. The Irish Times call him “a Seanchai, an interloper from the medieval,” and Madeline Miller names him “a modern-day Bard.”
Hidden in ancient stories are all kinds of secrets…
about how to thrive in a time of unraveling.
How do we work with such codes? How do we court them? In a time of strip-lit, rational thinking, how could we as modern people cultivate an etiquette of the uncanny? From his years living in a tent through to his life now, UK mythologist Dr. Martin Shaw will weave personal experiences up through any number of stories from the very edge of the fire.
No evening on the Codes tour is quite the same as the last, though each is sure to be electrifying. In the tradition of the old Celtic Seanchai, Shaw works entirely in the moment, with any number of tales he may produce from his crane-skin bag. It will be an uncommon gathering and filled with strange nutrients.
“In a world that, increasingly, looks to set rigid boundaries around what is acceptable to think and feel, Shaw’s work comes as relief, like clear, cold water from a rushing spring.”
—The Sunday Times, February 2023“Martin Shaw’s work is so very beautiful. A new animal. His love of images is deep and contagious. In the passion of his search he makes up new words that seem as though we’ve always known them. His language is tasty and surprising. This elegant combination of very fresh, free verse storytelling, and a deep untangling of myth feels so alive. What will it do next?”
—Coleman Barks, author of The Essential Rumi“I can still remember the first time I heard Martin Shaw tell a story. The tale that emerged was like a living thing, bounding around, throwing itself at all of us there listening. I had never heard anything like it before. Martin is a one-off, his work is urgent and necessary.”
—Paul Kingsnorth, author of The Wake“Eloquent and elegant, Shaw offers an irresistible invitation into realms that hold the wisdom of, not only survival, but expanding into one’s sense of purpose.”
—Malidoma Somé, author of Of Water and The Spirit“How I love the intelligent, poetic, and wild way of his voice.”
—Meredith Little, co-author of The Way of the Vision Quest“A true master. Martin Shaw is one of the very greatest storytellers we have.”
—Robert Bly, author of Iron John“Martin Shaw is a conjurer, a thirteenth century troubadour dropped in our midst. He breathes into his characters a beating pulse, agile speech and bedazzling wit. Catch him any way you can.”
—Eric Utne, founder of The Utne Reader
JOIN US ONLINE FOR THE WHOLE CONVERSATION!
We’re very excited to share that this event is being made available LIVE online so that you can join us from wherever you may be! These days most of us have big full lives, and are dealing with various commitments around family, time, money and work. Digitally, you’ll have the speakers, conversation & community – all from the comfort of your own home.
LISTEN. ANSWER. ASK. CONNECT!
You’re not watching – you’re PARTICIPATING! Through our easy online webinar system, you can engage with other viewers, participate in polls & discussions, and even ask questions during question periods. You certainly CAN choose to just sit back and watch & listen, if you like – your active participation isn’t an expectation, but it IS an opportunity.
NO FANCY TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED
There’s nothing to install, nothing to download, nothing to figure out. Here’s what you need to participate and have a great viewing experience!
> a modern internet browser (we recommend Chrome or Firefox)
> a reliable internet connection (hardwired is better than wifi)
> earbuds, headphones or good computer speakers
The School of Mythopoetics is a growing community of mythopoetic scholars, practicing the arts of story, myth, ritual and wonder.
You might ask – what is myth·o·po·et·ics?
The practice and lens of using story, poetry, and myth to wrangle meaning for oneself and our collective journey. It’s the reawakening of the mythic imagination in modern times.
Humanity is undergoing a great initiation right now.
Uncertainty is the increasing measure of our days.
The control-oriented maps of meaning fail us here.
These dark hollows are the terrain of soul.
To find our way, we must learn to speak the soul’s language, the mythopoetics that arise of birdsong, of thunderstorm, of crossroad, of metaphor and myth.
Your initiation will require you to court once again these wild Gods.
This School is a container for a regenerative cultural movement.
With guests joining us remotely from around the world, our show will be broadcast live from Sunset Labs, an intimate waterfront multi-purpose venue located downtown Victoria, Canada. This beautiful, high-tech venue hosts live broadcasts, meetings & workshops, dance nights, film screenings, live rock shows, fashion events, book fairs and everything else the community comes up with. For more information, please visit www.sunsetlabs.ca.