{"id":8882,"date":"2026-08-24T20:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/?p=8882"},"modified":"2026-08-24T20:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:42:15","slug":"poetry-life-times-may-2026-a-tribute-to-robin-ouzman-hislop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/poetry-life-times-may-2026-a-tribute-to-robin-ouzman-hislop\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Life & Times August 2026: A Tribute to Robin Ouzman Hislop"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Amparo Arrospide<\/span><\/h2>\n

Including an interview with Amparo Arrospide by Sara L Russell, plus additional tributes by David Michael Jackson, Loukia Borrell and<\/span> Sara L Russell plus a special tribute by Richard Vallance. <\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sara:<\/strong> Firstly, Amparo, may I say how sorry I am for your loss, and how we will all miss Robin, whose contributions to both poetry and translation spans decades of dedicated work.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you and Robin first meet?<\/span><\/p>\n

Amparo:<\/strong> I met Robin in 1982 at the University of Manchester, where he was studying Philosophy and Comparative Religions. He had come from Pakistan, where he had lived for eight years in Karachi and Lahore, exploring its valleys and mountain ranges. His close friend at Punjab University was Kazi Javed, a free thinker passionate about philosophy, history and the contemporary world, and a writer in Urdu. In Pakistan, Robin had studied Sufism, the mystical poetry of Jalal-U-Din Rumi and Ibn Arabi, specializing in comparing medieval Islamic philosophy with European scholasticism.<\/p>\n

I had arrived to Manchester on a work grant as Spanish language assistant. We met in the postgraduate club and started dating. I was fascinated by his eloquence and his thirst for knowledge\u2014we shared the latter. We became a couple, and he encouraged me to pursue a master’s degree in Literature. Three years later we traveled to Spain, where we stayed for a long time. Robin worked as an English language teacher in corporations and with individual students.<\/p>\n

Our son was born in Madrid in 1988; there were moves, job changes, and lifestyle shifts. At the Ateneo of Salamanca, we participated in literary gatherings, recitals, and publications. And then in Madrid, at the Complutense University, Casa do Brasil, the Ateneo, in bilingual recitals in cafes and pubs with poets like Andr\u00e9s Fisher<\/strong>, Mario Merlino<\/strong>, Yolanda P\u00e9rez Herreras<\/strong>… The world wide web arrived around that time, opening doors to the unknown.<\/p>\n

Sara:<\/strong> Had Robin already studied Spanish when you met?<\/span><\/p>\n

Amparo:<\/strong> When we met, Robin was already studying Spanish, improving once we moved to Spain. The relationship was even more fun then; we started translating ourselves and other poets. A gift for languages, entailing careful revisions of what had been read and said, due to the inevitable twists and turns of interpretation.<\/p>\n

And speaking of translation, Poetry Life & Times<\/strong> was a later and crucial moment.<\/p>\n

Sara:<\/strong> What are a couple of your favourites of Robin’s poems?<\/span><\/p>\n

Amparo:\u00a0<\/strong>“The Fan” and “Drumbeat”; both poems included in Rhythms of Existence<\/span>, his last published book in India (2025,\u00a0cyberwit.net<\/span><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Sara:<\/strong> Thank you Amparo. I have featured them below.<\/span><\/p>\n

Drumbeat<\/strong><\/p>\n

asleep i find i dream your heartbeat in mine
\n& waking find i hear the pounding tom tom
\na drumbeat reverberating over continents of time
\nbefore gods & goddesses came with their acclaim
\nof sun & moon which they cast to stone & tomb
\n& after the bomb that had pulverised us to a dust
\nas a shadow frame from where before we\u00b4d been
\nacross the plains of existence i hear the pulsation
\nresonate the rhythm in yours & mine as the same
\nas asleep i find i dream your heartbeat in mine
\n& waking find the air upon my skin breathing<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Fan<\/strong><\/p>\n

a few short years
\na few short days
\na few short hours
\na few short moments<\/p>\n

you (?)<\/p>\n

beyond the exalted reach
\nwho are you now
\nbeyond it all
\nbeyond its silent call
\nthe all in all
\nthat totalises the now
\nyet fragments as a peacocks fan
\nsailing beyond reach
\nbeyond touch
\nlike a rare butterfly in a jar
\nthe prosaic word burns within a tower
\nwhilst the rest of the world gives
\nand who is the world
\ni ask of the flower
\nme she sings
\ni am the daughter
\ni am the hour<\/p>\n

Sara:<\/strong> I really like Robin’s epic poetry recital of your translation of Carmen Crespo<\/strong>‘s epic poem “Tesserae<\/strong>“, which is on the YouTube link below. How did Robin get into making poetry videos?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n