Bohumila OTTOVA – author

STRASBOURG / EDINBURGH – Following recognition as a shortlisted writer and contributor to tens of international literary anthologies and magazines, poet, storyteller, and improvised heartfelt photographer Bohumila Ottová announces the release of her solo collection:

Edinburgh Dreams: Poems & Musings of a Wanderer who Fell in Love with the City at First Sight.

Currently based in the UNESCO City of Literature, Strasbourg, Ottová returns to the Scottish capital to present a work that bridges the gap between the visual and the verbal. This collection is not a traditional guidebook, but an ode to the town and a tribute of reverence to those who built it. These poems and musings offer a deeply personal exploration of the city’s famous and lesser-known nooks and crannies, and of the stories carved into its ancient stone.

Moving beyond the traditional guidebook, this work does not seek to retell the stories already known. It is a “travelong”: a slow and deliberate ode strolling through the town, notes of which are carried by the briny air. It is a reverence for those who built it and lived it. Edinburgh Dreams is a deeply personal exploration of the imprinted stories carved into ancient stone.

Ottová explores the city through the uniquely Scottish ‘Caledonian Antisyzygy’: the tension between the visceral dark and the ethereal light. Here, evocative verse is paired with original photography, creating a call and response that explores the city’s hidden corners and historic wynds.

“Edinburgh is a city of living, breathing past,” says Ottová. “In this collection, I wanted to capture the town’s duality: the glimmerings, the evanescences that linger in the light; the ever-present blooms, the leaves that rustle and whisper to the wind; the sturdiness and the fragility of all life, as well as the cries from the past; the restlessness of the ancestors emanating from the stones. There are many quiet wonders that reveal themselves to those who look up and around. It is a tribute to the city that captured my heart the moment I stepped onto its cobblestones and spent my shoes on its many steps.”

The “Edinburgh Dreams” Experience:

• A Visual Dialogue: Original photography intertwined with emotive and sometimes amused words, allowing the reader to experience the city through the poet’s eye, tongue, and wit.

• The Wanderer’s Perspective: Linking the river Ill to the Water of Leith, Ottová offers a unique Continental glance at the vibrant Scottish way of being.

• International Resonance: Drawing on a portfolio of work previously selected for competitive global anthologies, she delivers a piece of her heart wrapped in the haar.

Bohumila Ottová is available for readings, signing sessions, and interviews during the 2026 season.

For review copies, interview requests, or high-resolution imagery, please contact:

Bohumila Ottová | Bohumila.author@gmail.com

Bohumila OTTOVA – author – …and her writings…to your liking (I hope)

Based in Strasbourg, France / Available for Edinburgh-based events.

Product Details:

Title: Edinburgh Dreams: Poems & Musings of a Wanderer who Fell in Love with the City at First Sight

• ISBN: 979-10-981654-1-2 Price: [Insert] | Format: Paperback, 133 pages

Notes to Editors:

• High-resolution images and review copies are available.
• Bohumila Ottová is a Strasbourg-based author whose work has been featured in Published Works – Bohumila OTTOVA – author
• The collection features 76 original photographs paired with original 85 poems.