Tim Robinson (cartographer)
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Tim Robinson (born 1935) is a writer and cartographer. Born in Yorkshire, he studied mathematics at Cambridge University. After a career as a visual artist in Istanbul, Vienna and London he settled in the Aran Islands, off the coast of County Galway, and began a detailed study of the landscape of the west of Ireland. He has won two Irish Book Awards for his Connemara books.
Works
Robinson has produced maps of the Aran Islands, Connemara, and the Burren in County Clare; these are published by Folding Landscapes, the imprint he and his wife Máiréad run from their Roundstone base.
His two-volume study of the Aran Islands, Stones of Aran, is a much-praised compendium of topographical and culture lore, described by Michael Viney as "One of the most original, revelatory and exhilarating works of literature ever produced in Ireland."[1] Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage follows the form of a coastal exploration, while Stones of Aran: Labyrinth explores the interior.
His most recent work has been the publication of a three-volume study of Connemara: Listening to the Wind, A Little Gaelic Kingdom, and The Last Pool of Darkness. He is a member of the Irish arts organisation Aosdána.
Awards
Tim Robinson has won two Irish Book Awards: the 2007 Argosy Irish Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Connemara: Listening to the Wind [2] and the 2011 International Education Services Best Irish-Published Book of the Year for Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom.[3]
Principal publications
- Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage (The Lilliput Press, 1986)
- Connemara: A One-Inch Map, with Introduction and Gazetteer (Folding Landscapes, 1990)
- Stones of Aran: Labyrinth (Lilliput Press, 1995)
- Oileáin Arann: A Map of the Aran Islands, with a Companion to the Map (Folding Landscapes, 1996)
- Setting Foot on the Shores of Connemara (The Lilliput Press, 1996)
- The Burren: A Map of the Uplands of North-West County Clare (Folding Landscapes, 1999)
- My Time in Space (The Lilliput Press, 2001)
- Tales and Imaginings (The Lilliput Press, 2002)
- Connemara: Listening to the Wind (Penguin Ireland, 2006)
- Connemara: The Last Pool of Darkness (Penguin Ireland, 2008)
- Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom (Penguin Ireland, 2011)
Notes
- ^ Michael Viney, review of The Stones of Aran, Irish Times.
- ^ Irish Book Awards: Previous Winners Archived 2011-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Irish Book Awards: 2011 Awards Archived 2009-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
External links
Reviews
- review of Connemara: Listening to the Wind by Joseph O'Connor, Guardian
- review of Rock of Ages by Robert Macfarlane, Guardian