Seanchai Library Enters Final Month on LEA 9

LEA 9, Second Life – "The Kraken has arrived at Crazy Eights on LEA Region 9, so it must be near the end."  Seanchai Library will be wrapping up its residency among the core regions in the Linden Endowment for the Arts Estate this month. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA9/128/94/31

Crazy Eights opened on LEA 9 January 31st, billed as a celebration of the art of stories and spoken word in Second Life.  To date, there have been 31 individual events, presenting over 40 hours of live voice presentations, featuring over 30 storytellers, authors, poets and voice performers.  Over one thousand individual residents have visited LEA 9 for events, or to wander and explore. Many returned and Crazy Eights is proud to report a 2:1 ratio of unique to return visits.

Seanchai Library's "Crazy Eights" Residency on Linden Endowment for the Arts 9

"I had to actually get paper and pencil to calculate how many different stories have been represented here, either live performances or through the story forest," said Chief Storyteller Shandon Loring, "it's amazing all the different genres and forms we have covered in just four months; everything from literary classics to contemporary adventure and romance."

Perhaps the biggest story of all is the story of Seanchai Library itself. Seanchai Library (Shanna-key, which means "Storyteller" in Irish.) was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. Thousands of stories, and hundreds of authors later, the program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through weekly live voice presentations: "We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life." Crazy Eights refers to the Library celebrating its eighth anniversary this year.

"We've reached a lot of people and built many new relationships," shared Seanchai Lead Caledonia Skytower. Many of those relationships have been individuals introduced to the enjoyment that comes with the virtual story experience. Some of those relationships have resulted in new cooperative efforts. When Armon Aeon and Tigre Milena took up residence on LEA 8 to the north of Crazy Eights to create "Jane Austen's English Countryside," the new neighbors started visiting back and forth.  "It was the virtual equivalent of leaning over the fence," Skytower said.  The result was a series of readings from the works of Jane Austen presented by Seanchai on LEA 8 that will continue even after the Library has packed up their prims on LEA 9.  "We've had so many great conversations about art and literature.  This was an important friendship to begin here, and I am certain it will continue. There have been so many others as well.  It really has been a positive experience in so many ways," concluded Skytower.

The Featured Book Area on LEA 9 with the current series

The final month of literature events will include the conclusion of the weekly serial presentation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and the final Featured Book Series featuring a book from this year's Newbery Honors - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's "The War That Saved My Life."  There will be one final live voice tour of the Story Forest, and one last Storytellers' Sandbox featuring voices from around the grid, including the Cold Shot Players.  Saturday, May 21st beginning at Noon, there will be a "Big Read" of  "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" with a revolving cast of readers presenting Lewis Carroll's entire work, non-stop, in pairs and small groups. “We 'Begin at the beginning," Loring re-quoted, "and we 'go on till we come to the end: then stop.'”

Information on Seanchai Library schedules and programs, as well as links to Seanchai's social media presence can be found online at http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/

There is a special page for Crazy Eights activities and information http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/p/at-lea-9.html

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