'The reach of the Shetland fishing industry throughout history' by John Goodlad
John Goodlad is a Shetlander who works in the seafood industry. For many years he was the voice of the Shetland fishing industry when he led the Shetland Fishermen's Association. He then became a fish farmer and now advises various national and international seafood organisations and companies. His previous book, The Cod Hunters, was shortlisted for the Maritime Foundation's Mountbatten Award for Best Maritime Book in 2020. His new book, The Salt Roads, was published in September 2022.
'Political families of Shetland' by James Stewart
James Stewart has been researching Shetland's political history since 2009. Having worked in Politics after university, he is now a software engineer based in Ayrshire where he and his wife also operate a cafe.
'The Giffords of Busta: a family tragedy and its consequences' by Marsali Taylor
Marsali Taylor's writing career began with plays for her school pupils to perform in the local Festival. Her first Shetland-set crime novel starring quick-witted, practical sailor Cass Lynch and Inverness DI Gavin Macrae was published in 2013, and there are now ten in the series. Reviewers have praised their clever plotting, lively characters and vividly-evoked setting. Marsali's interest in history is shown in her self-published Women's Suffrage in Shetland, The Story of Busta House and Forgotten Heroines: The Diaries of Ysabel Birkbeck, Ambulance driver on the Roumanian Front, 1916-17. She's also written a Norse-set crime novella, Footsteps in the Dew. She's a regular reviewer for the e-zine Mystery People and a columnist for Practical Boat Owner. Hobbies include sailing her 8m yacht, drama and learning to play the flute. She lives on Shetland's scenic westside with her composer husband and three extremely spoiled cats.
'Beginning Scottish Family History' by Emma Maxwell
Do you want to know how to trace your Scottish family history? Genealogist Emma Maxwell will present ‘Beginning Scottish Family History’ at the ‘Sharing Shetland’ conference on Saturday 22 October 2022. Emma will show you how to trace a standard Scottish family from the 1930s back to the 1830s.
'In habits, in character, in fact [in] everything except language … like the Norwegians’?
Dr Rebecca Lenihan is a New Zealand historian whose love of Scotland, and of Shetland in particular, arose from her PhD research on Scottish migration to New Zealand, published as From Alba to Aotearoa: Profiling New Zealand’s Scottish Migrants, 1840-1920, (Otago University Press, 2015). Her recent research investigates British soldiers serving in New Zealand in the 1860s (http://www.soldiersofempire.nz/).