Robyn Rowland is third generation Irish-Australian, and has also been reading and teaching in Ireland for 28 years, where she lives part-time in Connemara. She has published seven books of poetry. Silence & its tongues (Five Islands Press, 2006) was runner up for the 2007 ACT Minister’s Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her new collection Seasons of doubt & burning: New & Selected Poems (Five Islands Press, 2010) covers almost 40 years of publishing. These poems show growth from open simplicity to a rich, resonant maturity. Their hallmark is deep honesty and emotional accessibility.
‘Her poems are richly wrought, sensuous, full of passion and restraint. They're luminous and earthy at the same time and open the reader's ear to hear the silence of the lost. In these difficult times, she's the poet I'm looking for: 'an angel she could be, or hope in flight'. Lorna Crozier, Canada
'In this passionate volume, Robyn Rowland’s sensuous imagery is crafted by a fine intellect; the music of her lines vibrates in the memory’. ' Robert Adamson, Australia
Robyn’s work has been awarded a number of prizes. She has read her poetry in Portugal, Ireland, the UK, the USA, Greece, Austria, Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey and Italy, where, along with Canada and Japan, she has been published. Her poetry featured often on Australian national radio’s Poetica and The Spirit of Things. Robyn is known for her moving readings, available on her CDs, Off the tongue and Silver Leaving - Poems & Harp.
John Nettles, the BBC actor (Midsomer Murders and Bergerac), who recorded Sir John Betjeman, has named Robyn as ‘among the first rank of poets’, impressed ‘by her use of language, control of verse and wonderful delivery’. Her accent, he said, ‘gives an added piquancy to her delivery’ and the poetry is ‘extraordinarily moving, wonderfully insightful’ with ‘a control of language I haven’t come across since, well, TS Eliot. Like Dylan Thomas and Betjeman, you have to hear her yourself. She is the voice.’
An Honorary Fellow, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, Robyn was Deputy Chair of the Board of the Australian Poetry Centre (2007-2008). Previously Professor of Social Inquiry and Women’s Studies at Deakin University, she retired in 1996 after breast cancer and burnout. She was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for her contribution to higher education and women's health in 1996.
Posts
