Tolkien inspired by Aberdeenshire fantasy author at heart of two-week Huntly Festival of Illustration
A two-week festival will shine a spotlight on a fantasy author born 200 years ago who influenced The Lord of the Rings.
The Huntly Festival of Illustration, between August 28 and September 9, is set to celebrate the stories of George MacDonald and how illustrators have brought them to life for more than a century.
One of the founding fathers of fantasy writing, greats like John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Lewis Carrol and CS Lewis, praised the Huntly-born writer and credited him as an inspiration.
The Lord of the Rings author, JRR Tolkien, highlighted Mr MacDonald’s goblins as an influence on his own creatures, and the Huntly author’s work featured sentient trees which were similar to Mr Tolkien’s ents.
His imaginative tales told of: princesses cursed to defy gravity or never see daylight; evil goblins living below ground; a poor shepherd boy who diverts a stream through his father’s cottage and discovers a band of inebriated river fairies; and a child taken away by the wind to the North Pole.
The festival is largely based in Number 30 The Square - previously the old Cruickshank’s building - which is being converted into a community-use building with events space, a cafe, a shop and a cinema set to open later this year.
Hundreds of local school children are to take part in workshops and talks by leading illustrators, with the festival subsidising school transport for rural primary schools to ensure all schools can join in.
At the heart of the two-week programme, is an exhibition of work by 48 international artists who have reimagined Mr MacDonald’s stories through illustration.
Included are famous illustrators behind Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak), Winnie the Pooh (E H Shepard).
A second exhibition will also show off top Scottish illustrators, including the original creators of the Beano, Dandy and Oor Wullie and Judge Dredd artist Tom Foster.
Alongside exhibitions, the festival is set to host a wide range of free events, with workshops for adults and families across the town together with screenings, activities, guided walks, classes and more.
Focused not just on book illustrators, the busy programme also highlights artists and animators.
And the volunteer-run Orb’s Community Bookshop is hosting a Goblin Hunt to coincide with the festival, based around Mr MacDonald’s influential creatures.
Members of the public have been tasked with hunting 17 portraits of mythical creatures, which will be inside buildings that have goblin symbols on their front window or door.
The challenge, with £20 of books up for grabs, is inspired by a new myth and superstition map of the town which has been created for the festival.
Entry forms can be collected at Orb’s Community Bookshop in the Square and from the Brander Library, until 4pm on Thursday, September 5.
More details, including a full programme of events are available at www.illustrationhuntly.com
Those interested in attending can also learn more by visiting Orb’s Bookshop.
