Karine Polwart

We chat to Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart about art, UFOs, drunken elks, nuclear power, jam cupboards, Greek mythology, and her new theatre show inspired by the science of supernovas.

Show Notes

Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart has long been fascinated by astronomy. At the 2020 Hebridean Dark Skies Festival she performed The Only Light Was Stars, a ‘work in progress’ version of a new show inspired by supernovas, in front of an audience for the first time. One year on, we catch up with Karine and talk astronomy, art, UFOs, drunken elks, nuclear power, jam cupboards, and staying creative in lockdown – among other things. The episode is hosted by Hebridean Dark Skies Festival programmer Andrew Eaton-Lewis.  The sound was mixed by Hamish Brown. Campfire Conversations is presented in association with The Scotsman. To find out more about the Hebridean Dark Skies Festival, visit www.lanntair.com/darkskies.

What is Hebridean Dark Skies Festival podcast?

The Hebridean Dark Skies Festival presents a series of interviews with fascinating people from the worlds of astronomy, psychology, and the arts, exploring our festival themes of winter, darkness and the night sky. The podcasts are presented by festival director Andrew Eaton-Lewis, with sound mixed by Hamish Brown.

The Hebridean Dark Skies Festival is an ambitious annual programme of events taking place each February on the Isle of Lewis, including live music, film, visual art, theatre, astronomy talks, and stargazing. To find out more visit www.lanntair.com/darkskies.

The festival is led by An Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway in partnership with Stornoway Astronomical Society, Calanais Visitor Centre, Gallan Head Community Trust, and Lews Castle College UHI. The festival is supported by Caledonian MacBrayne, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Culture & Business Fund. For its first three years it was part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community Outer Hebrides Leader 2014-2020 programme.