Robert Graves´ museum to open next month

By Humphrey Carter THE Deya home of the late writer and war poet Robert Graves has been converted into a museum dedicated to the writer and will open to the public on July 2, just days before the island hosts the seventh international Robert Graves Conference. Graves, who died in Deya in 1985, bought the Majorcan property, which he called Ca n'Alluny, in 1929 after being seriously wounded during the Battle of the Somme. As the Bulletin reported on Sunday, the international conference takes place between July 4 and July 8 and will include a special tour of the museum. William Graves, one of the writer's sons, has overseen the restoration of the property and its conversion into a museum. One of the most complicated tasks of the project was cataloging the items inside the property which will enable the public to be able to enjoy its original condition. The museum is a time capsule, enabling visitors to experience the property and Robert Graves' home just as it was in the 1930*s. His office and writing desk, the bedrooms, his many hats, manuscripts and other personal items have all been returned to their original positions in the house. Visitors will also be able to tour the small vegetable garden the writer kept. The opening of the museum is not the only great event coinciding with the international conference. William Graves has also been involved with the publication of a book of 50 photographs entitled A week in Mallorca with Robert Graves. The pictures have been selected from a total of 350 taken, and now part of the world famous Getty photographic archive, by the celebrity photographer Dan Farson during a week spent with the writer in 1953 along with the journalist Robert Key. The original feature was published in Picture Post and William Graves said that the book is going to be a wonderful documentary of Graves' life in Majorca. “None of the pictures are posed, they are all excellent stills, of various formats, of his life on the island,” William told the Bulletin. The book will be a paperback and will be on sale next month. For conference information go to www.robertgraves.org