The African Studies Association UK Conference will take place at the University of Birmingham in September 2018. The Call for Papers for the conference is now open (deadline for submissions, 16 February 2018). I am co-organising a conference stream on African Literature with Jarad Zimbler, University of Birmingham: African Literature: Communities, Collaborations, Crafts and Crossings …
Author Archives: Rachel Bower
Epistolarity and World Literature
My book on letters has just been published online by Palgrave Macmillan, and will be available in print by the end of the month. Epistolarity and World Literature, 1980-2010 is part of a new series edited by Neil Lazarus and Pablo Mukherjee: New Comparisons in World Literature. The book examines the resurgence of the literary letter at the end …
A Snake in the Garden (Stand 15.2)
This is the proof of a short article that I wrote for the Special Issue of Stand on Geoffrey Hill. The issue is full of great poems, articles, photographs and tributes, including by John Whale, Sarah Prescott, Jeffrey Wainwright, Elaine Glover, Jon Glover, Hannah Copley and many more! A Snake in the Garden. Stand 15.2 (2017) …
New Poems, Books, Harrison & Hill
It’s been a busy old month finishing off as many things as I can before my maternity leave! I’m pleased to have some new poems published in the wonderful Foxglove Journal of Poetry and Fiction, including Waiting, New Beginnings and Cherries. The Geoffrey Hill Special Issue of Stand has also just been published, which includes my article about …
Verse Matters – what’s next…
Thanks to Seven Hills Film for the lovely highlights video from our Verse Matters ( South Yorkshire Poetry Festival) event in May at the Moor Theatre Delicatessen! The night included performances from Salena Godden, Kate Fox, Hive Young Writers (14-25s) Kevin Titterton, Angelina Abel with the CORS/PO performance, Mina Salama (Arts on the Run). You can also see clips of the wonderful Jepps Books (Sheffield’s …
Letters letters letters!
My new book, Epistolarity and World Literature, 1980-2010 is now available for pre-order from Palgrave Macmillan. The book examines the return of the literary letter at the end of the long twentieth century. It asks how authors returned to epistolary conventions to create dialogue across national, linguistic and cultural borders and repositions a range of contemporary …
Shades @ Visual Verse
My poem, Shades, has just been published on the wonderful website, Visual Verse. The poem responds to a striking image by the artist Alejandro Alvarez. Each month Visual Verse offers an image and challenges writers to respond in one hour – and in no more than 500 words. Check it out and give it a go! The …
Sheffield Feminist Archive
It was lovely to talk to Hattie from Sheffield Feminist Archive this morning. The Sheffield Feminist Archive project is working with Sheffield Archives to ensure that documents relating to Sheffield’s feminist past and present are collected and preserved for future generations. Hattie was a great interviewer and she has published a blog post about our conversation. …
Verse Matters @South Yorks Poetry Festival
We’re running a special Verse Matters in collaboration with South Yorkshire Poetry Festival on Saturday 27 May at the Moor Theatre Delicatessen in Sheffield. Come and join us! It’s an amazing line-up. There will be sparkling poetry from the wonderful Kate Fox Fox (poet), powerful words from national slam champion Solomon O.B (poet), brilliant music from Mina Mikhael Salama …
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Yarl’s Wood
My poem “Yarl’s Wood” has just been published on the excellent poetry site The Stare’s Nest. The site publishes ‘poems for a more hopeful world’ – something we certainly need at the moment. My poem is a palimpsest translation of Anne Askew’s “The Ballad Which Anne Askew Made and Sang When She Was in Newgate, 1546”. It draws …
Cora Greenhill’s ‘Artemis: The People’s Priestess’
Cora Greenhill’s Artemis: The People’s Priestess pulses with light, heat and movement. Just published by the wonderful Three Drops Press, the collection tells the ‘back story’ of Artemis: her power, sensuality and sexuality. The poems chart Artemis’ growth through a series of dramatic poems, each spoken by a different character. At the heart of the …
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Rachel Bower 