Serendipity and the Curious Mind: A Poet Travelling through History and Place

Dance with the Gypsies? ‘Yes’! Visit Sarajevo?’ Yes’! Now based in Victoria, Australian-Irish poet Dr Robyn Rowland AO was living in Ireland, Türkiye and Australia until late 2019 when she retuned to care for her father in NSW until mid 2022. In 2009 she first visited Turkey, later writing This Intimate War Gallipoli/Çanakkale 1915 – İçli Dışlı Bir Savaş: Gelibolu/Çanakkale 1915 ((FIP, 2015; repub. Spinifex Press, Australia, 2018), bilingual with Turkish translations by Mehmet Ali Çelikel.). Passionately attached, Robyn travelled the old Ottoman Empire and modern Türkiye. Mosaics from the Map, her 10th book of poems, covered these travels and more, and her latest, Under This Saffron Sun – Safran Güneşin Altında, (Knocknarone Press, Ireland 2019) explores the Turkey of today. Istanbul, with its riot of colour, Goreme, Edirne, and others, are landmarks on the way to friendship and rich village life in Bozcaada. This talk with photographs, poetry and images is a unifying journey.