Dr Rommi Smith

Rommi Smith: Encounters with Austen and Turner

The Main Library at Harewood is a place of encounter.

Located at the heart of the House, the Library was a place where the Lascelles family welcomed their guests.

This would have included Turner in 1797 and Austen, too, had she ever visited Harewood.

Today, artist and author meet in this room through their creative work – in Austen’s novels on the bookshelves and in Turner’s paintings on the walls.

In this encounter – both real and imagined – Austen and Turner are joined by Rommi Smith, an award-winning poet, playwright and performer, as part of a newly commissioned creative writing residency, which is part of Austen & Turner: A Country House Encounter.

Through her own research and exploration of the artworks, manuscripts and objects presented within and outside of this exhibition, Smith creates an imagined dream-like dialogue between Austen and Turner. The poem is entitled Perhaps (2025) and is a contrapuntal poem, meaning a poem containing more than one melody-line, or voice. Fragments from Austen’s and Turner’s writings, as well as Smith’s own original work, are intricately woven together into a text which invites us to hold different voices and perspectives on the house. Smith’s work can be found here, in this room, as well as in other rooms around the House.

In places, Smith has created writing exercises, to encourage you to join in this imagined conversation and respond creatively to Austen’s and Turner’s creative legacies. The culmination of these exercises can be found in the State Dining Room.