PAUL CORNISH
Paul Cornish
Pages of Stars Competition3/18/2023 In December last year I entered The Astronomical Observatory Serafino Zani and the Mobile Planetarium Committee's Pages of Stars competition. The competition was hosted on the International Planetarium Society's website with the goal of building "a collection of short audio clips that can easily be shared among planetarians." Those who entered the competition were invited to prepare a short text that can be read under a Planetarium dome, and record themselves reading it aloud.
I'm delighted to say that I've won first prize. I've been awarded a certificate, and my recording and accompanying text have been made available on the International Planetarium Society's website. The text has also been published in the latest issue of the Society's professional journal, The Planetarian. Needless to say I'm very pleased to have won. My text was a retelling of the story of Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogi. In Wales this story has been linked to the constellations Perseus and Andromeda. It's wonderful to have an opportunity to share a little bit of Welsh culture - not to mention one of my favourite stories - with fellow Planetarium presenters across the world. The story is one I've made great use of over the years while performing Planetarium shows. Recently I've been sharing it as part of We the Curious' outdoor Stories from the Stars events. These events were written and presented by myself and my colleague Gemma Kerr. Gemma also hosts a fantastic podcast about astronomy and mythology called The Celestial Tales, which I thoroughly recommend. I originally found the link between the story of Lleu and the constellations being made in an excellent book by the Welsh astronomer Martin Griffiths - Dark Land, Dark Skies. I would urge any stargazers with an interest in mythology to read this book.
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