Robyn Rowland at Collins Booksellers

We are delighted to announce that renowned poet Dr Robyn Rowland AO is returning to the Illawarra and will be reading from her latest collection, Steep Curve, at Collins Booksellers, Thirroul. Steep Curve, Robyn's twelfth book of poetry, was published by 5 Islands Press in 2024.

The book, “a collection of final father poems”, centres on the two-and-a-half years between Robyn’s decision to return from Ireland to be close to her centenarian father and his death. Robyn lived with her father in her childhood home, which he had built 65 years before, acting first as his companion, then as his carer. The poems trace the course of this changing relationship through physical and emotional challenges, anger, frustration, loss and love.

Robyn’s father, Norm Rowland OAM, was a widely respected local identity, amongst whose many contributions to the region was the founding of Warrigal, a provider of not-for-profit aged care facilities in the Illawarra and beyond.

“Heartachingly beautiful, wistfully wise and meticulously crafted, this book dexterously captures the humility, grace and wisdom a daughter divines in tending to an ageing, then dying, father.” (Dr. Anne Casey)

“Robyn Rowland never shirks from the details, the hard facts, the sting of the sublime. Steep Curve is a book of remarkable moments and enduring love.” (Dr. Kevin Brophy)

You can catch Robyn talking about the book on Radio Illawarra at 10:30 am tomorrow (28 July). Registration and other details for the reading on 3 August are given on the Events page of the Collins Bookseĺlers, Thirroul website. (To get to that page, just click the botton below).

Go to Collins Booksellers Events Page