Kathleen Jamie will be speaking at the University of Otago today, giving students a chance to engage with her and her writing.
"The last 20 years I’ve been writing a lot about nature and the natural world."
She wrote in English and also in Scots, and was named the national poet laureate of Scotland in 2021.
She was "delighted" to be in the city after being offered to visit the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies as part of a yearly exchange.
Hailing from Edinburgh, she found visiting Dunedin — which is referred to as the Edinburgh of the south — came with familiarities.
"So many of the street names and signs are familiar."
Both cities had a Princes St, yet they shared no resemblance, she said.
Despite the lack of street similarity, the landscape of Dunedin was one that would eventually feed itself into her work, she said.
After arriving at the beginning of the month, she was unsure if she would write about her experience in Dunedin and would wait until more time had passed to consider it.
"Two months sounds like a lovely long time but it’s not enough to feel your way into a piece."
Earlier this month, she and Dunedin writer Talia Marshall hosted a talk at Dunedin City Library, which was "interesting", she said.
"Very different writer. She’s a New Zealander and I’m from Northern Europe. Completely different lives."
