Author Archives: Rachel Bower

This week I’ve been teaching Creative Writing to new students at the University of Leeds via online seminars. As my work usually involves a lot of live workshops and readings, I’ve been thinking hard over recent weeks about how to create welcoming, supportive spaces online: how can we re-create effective, friendly workshops and literary salons […]

A few extracts from my recent interview with Professor Martin Banham, published in the anniversary issue of Moving Worlds (20.1). In the inaugural issue of Moving Worlds, Martin introduced an extract from Wole Soyinka’s highly satirical play, King Baabu. Martin has nurtured a lifelong passion for African theatre and performance cultures: after graduating from the University of Leeds in […]

I’ve just arrived home from two weeks in Scotland – a combination of wild camping, youth hostelling and sleeping in a hand-built kata at Comrie Croft’s beautiful eco-site. It was a lovely (if challenging!) adventure with the kids – fields of midges and ticks; a heat wave; brilliant white beaches; common seals; storms and high […]

In her ‘Covid Time Capsule’ my seven year old daughter wrote that the thing she has learned during lockdown is that “you don’t have to go very far.” We live in an urban area, less than two miles from Sheffield city centre, and even though we’ve always spent a lot of time outside, during lockdown […]

I am delighted to be judging the Walter Swan 18-25 Poetry Prize this year for the Ilkley Literature Festival. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘A Kindness’. Please send us your poems and spread the word! Established in memory of the writer Walter Swan, the Walter Swan Trust encourages all forms of creative writing, […]

It’s such an honour to have won the The London Magazine Short Story Prize this year with my story “Against the Tide.” I’d like to thank the panel of judges and everyone involved for their time and energy in making this happen, especially during such challenging times. I am sorry that it hasn’t been possible […]

I’m very proud to be involved in the Northern Short Story Festival 2020 and I want to thank SJ Bradley and the team for summoning the energy and creativity to get this brilliant festival online! The festival is celebrating its fifth birthday this year – and wherever you are in the world you can now […]

Over the last year, I’ve been working on a project called Collections in Verse in Sheffield, commissioned by the British Library and Poet in the City, along with two other brilliant poets – Joe Kriss and Kayo Chingonyi. The idea of the project is to bring the British Library exhibitions to life through poetry and […]

I have been absent because of the current crisis, but I’m here to tell you about the wonderful #StayAtHome!LiteraryFestival, organised at lightening speed by the brilliant Carolyn Jess-Cooke in partnership with Paper Nations. A flood of writers and artists responded to Carolyn’s initial Tweet about the idea on Twitter and within a few days the […]

‘”Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul…’ (Emily Dickinson) I am delighted that I will be the Guest Editor of the A3 Review for the next few months. The magazine that behaves like a map! We are now open for submissions on the theme of #Hope. Dangerous hope, the audacity […]

There are only three days left to enter the Liz Ferrets Poetry Competition judged by me, Sez Thomasin and Kate Garrett. Liz was a brilliant poet and performer from Sheffield and the competition celebrates her life and writing. The winners will be announced at The Showroom (Sheffield) on Monday 17 January. The competition is free […]