A New Kickstarter for Gaelic Month
Bradan Press is proud to celebrate Gaelic Month 2022 in Nova Scotia with online book launch events, pop-up sales, and a list of our free online Gaelic resources, which you can enjoy from anywhere in the world!
It’s Mìos nan Gàidheal / Gaelic Month 2022 and Bradan Press is running a Kickstarter crowdfunder for the audiobook edition of Angus MacLeod’s Gaelic graphic novel Ás a’ Chamhanaich for 3 weeks, from May 11-31! (We say May 11th, but we actually hit the “Launch” button at 10:30pm Atlantic last night!)
Please consider supporting the campaign with a donation! Backers will receive early access to the audiobook, and a discount coupon for your next order at the Bradan Press shop for pledges of CA$30 and up. REMEMBER, Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform, so if we don’t reach our goal, backers’ pledges won’t be collected and Bradan Press won’t receive anything!
More about the Gaelic Audiobook Project
WHAT / DÈ
Bradan Press is raising funds to help pay for the recording and production of an audiobook edition of Ás a’ Chamhanaich, the Scottish Gaelic graphic novel by Cape Breton author-illustrator Angus MacLeod. This audiobook will be made available as a FREE hourlong recording on Bandcamp and YouTube.
The audiobook will be created at Soundpark Studios, a professional recording studio in Sydney, NS. Angus himself will be reading the text of his graphic novel aloud. If you know Angus, you know that he’s not only a gifted and popular online Gaelic teacher, but also an accomplished actor in Gaelic short films. So this Gaelic audiobook will be infused with drama, as well as providing a helpful pronunciation guide to learners.
We’re raising the money through this crowdfunder to supplement Bradan Press’s cash and in-kind contributions for travel expenses, and a $1000 grant received from the Gàidheil air Adhart program (a fund administered by the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia). The combined funds from Bradan Press, the grant, and Kickstarter backers will cover the project expenses: recording sessions and editing, an honorarium for the voice talent, an honorarium for the musician, pay for the producer, travel expenses for the voice talent, and part of travel expenses for the producer. We have to cover most of these expenses with a grant and crowdfunding because we’re making the audiobook available for free, so there will be no future sales revenue to offset expenses.
WHY / CARSON
Angus’s graphic novel itself is a groundbreaking work of art and literature. It is:
- The first graphic novel ever to be written originally in Gaelic (rather than translated from English);
- The first graphic novel to be illustrated by an artist who is a fluent Gaelic speaker;
- The first Gaelic graphic novel ever published in Canada.
We’re creating this audiobook by popular demand from Angus’s Gaelic students. (Mòran taing!) The three main aims are:
- To provide an extra dimension of enjoyment to this Gaelic work of art & literature;
- To help increase awareness of Nova Scotia’s Gaelic culture and artists;
- To provide a helpful resource for Gaelic students to study pronunciation and improve their reading skills.
HOW / CIAMAR
The plan for creation of the audiobook is as follows: The producer, Emily McEwan of Bradan Press in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, travels to Cape Breton to attend and produce the recording sessions at Soundpark Studios in Sydney. The author and voice talent, Angus MacLeod, travels between his home in Goose Cove and the recording studio each day. They record the audiobook during two sessions in two days, with Angus reading aloud, Emily checking the spoken word carefully against the text and advising the recording engineer, and recording engineer Jamie Foulds editing the recordings as they go along. The recording sessions take an estimated 8.5 hours in total, with extra editing and mastering time afterward. Musician Wayne MacIntyre contributes an acoustic guitar music recording with a brief excerpt of a traditional Gaelic melody, which will be used to mark the boundaries between short stories in the graphic novel. The finished audiobook is posted on Bandcamp and YouTube (with project backers given 2 weeks of early access).
WHO / CÒ
Bradan Press is a Scottish Gaelic publisher founded in 2016 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. To date we have published 27 titles in the genres of nonfiction, children’s fiction, poetry, and graphic novels. In June 2019 we ran a successful Kickstarter campaign raising CA$17,000 for Anna Ruadh, the first-ever Scottish Gaelic translation of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (published in June 2020). In 2021 we were proud to present copies of Anna Ruadh to Parks Canada at Green Gables Heritage Place itself in Prince Edward Island. Bradan Press also has previous experience with producing and publishing two Gaelic audiobooks: the children’s folktale Biorachan Beag agus Biorachan Mòr, and the poetry collection Ràithean airson Sireadh / Seasons for Seeking by Lodaidh MacFhionghain.
Angus MacLeod / Aonghas MacLeòid was born and raised in Goose Cove, Cape Breton where he still lives. His ancestors came from Lewis and Harris. He has appeared in several Gaelic films including “Faire Chaluim Mhic Leòid” [The Wake of Calum MacLeod] and “Slighe Agnais” [A Journey for Agnes]. He works now for Explore Gaelic, teaching Gaelic online. He enjoys gardening and working around the farm that he grew up on and has a great appreciation of Gaelic songs. Angus wrote and illustrated the graphic novel Ás a’ Chamhanaich (published October 2021), its English translated edition Out of the Twilight (forthcoming in May 2022) and a second Gaelic graphic novel to be published in October 2022.
Gaelic graphic novel author/artist Angus MacLeod
Emily McEwan / Eimilidh NicEòghainn is the president of Bradan Press. She has been involved with Scottish Gaelic language and culture for 30 years. As an academic she authored numerous articles and a book about Gaelic revitalization, and taught at universities in the U.S. and Canada. She is the author of The Scottish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook.
Wayne MacIntyre / Uèin Mac an t-Saoir is a retired educator and Gaelic learner. Music has always been a large part of his life in Halifax where he was raised. This passion comes from South Uist through Dominion, Cape Breton on his father’s side, and from France through Rivière Bourgeois on his mother’s side. Wayne previously created arrangements of traditional Gaelic tunes and played acoustic guitar on the Bradan Press audiobook production Ràithean airson Sireadh / Seasons for Seeking by Lodaidh MacFhionghain.
Soundpark Studios in Sydney, Nova Scotia, is the home of multiple award-winning music producer / recording engineer Jamie Foulds. Jamie has been awarded 14 ECMAs (East Coast Music Awards) during his recording career. Soundpark clients have included many well-known Cape Breton recording artists as well as the CBC, Celtic Colours, and Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey.
HOW MUCH / CIA MHEUD
We are seeking to raise CA$1,300 with this Kickstarter.
The project expenses total nearly CA$2,900. Here is a pie chart showing the breakdown of project expenses:
The project income totals about CA$1,600 so far, not including the Kickstarter. This consists of CA$1,000 from a Gàidheil air Adhart grant (from Comhairle na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia), and about CA$600 from Bradan Press in cash and in-kind for travel expenses. Here is a pie chart showing the projected percentage of project income from each source, if the Kickstarter is successful:
If you would like to see an itemized spreadsheet, please message us through the Kickstarter platform or through our website! We’re happy to share it with you.