Award-winning poet Stephanie Conn has traveled to Launceston from Northern Ireland to share Tasmania-inspired tales from her newly released book at the Tasmanian Poetry Festival.
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In 2012, Conn spent time exploring the state’s luscious landscapes and intriguing history with her family, an experience she speaks fondly of.
“I just found the landscape and the places that we visited really inspiring and when I went home I started to write about Tasmania,” she said.
Her first book, The Women on the Other Side, includes pieces set in the Netherlands, Russia and Tasmania. They draw inspiration from a diverse series of life events including relationship breakdowns, children and motherhood.
“I think that I don’t really write about place but it is sort of more relationships and whatever tensions there may be,” Conn said.
A qualified primary school teacher, Conn said she discovered her love for poetry later in life. “I found poetry quite difficult and a lot of the time I couldn’t really relate to it,” she said.
Conn turned to poetry after losing her mum at a young age.
“I found a lot of comfort in poetry and then I started writing it,” she said.
“I think people don’t appreciate the range of poetry out there...poetry tends to get put in one little pocket and I think people think back to school and think that it is difficult or boring.
“It is just about getting out there and finding what is out there [for you].”
Conn will speak alongside all the other poets at the Plough Inn from 1pm on Sunday.
For more information go to www.taspoetryfest.org/.