"For all who are trying to find a place among flags and nations"

Spend some time with the artist

As much as I want you to hear this conversation with the incredibly talented Robin Block, I have a suggestion… Head to Robin’s website first! I was lucky enough to see Robin on stage at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival before I had the privilege of meeting him in person for this conversation, so I know that his music and mesmerising sensory performances are a wonderful introduction to his life and work. Please go and have a look then hurry on back!

I love talking to people about their travels around the world, and those conversations have an extra resonance when the person in question has documented their explorations in poetry, music and performance. Robin’s poetry collection, Handbook for the Displaced (available for sale here), was launched in Indonesia last year, and the day after we spoke I was lucky enough to attend a viewing of the beautiful poetry film he made with documentary filmmaker Jeremy Flohr.

For this conversation, Robin and I were generously hosted by Erasmus Huis, the Dutch cultural centre in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Please enjoy this conversation with the wonderful Robin Block.

And I’d love to hear from you too!

If anything in this episode inspires you to see the world a little differently or to expand your own horizons in any way, I’d love to hear from you. Please drop a note in the comments or send me a message about a story you’d like to share.

Let’s all tell each other about the things we’ve witnessed, so that we can learn from one another and see that, despite the differences in the details of our lives, we’re all global citizens of one beautiful and intricately interconnected world.

MUSIC: Defining Life, by Bill Conn

PHOTOGRAPHY: Michelle Neeling

Written and produced by Michelle Neeling