Facilitating Creativity
I have over twenty years experience working as a creative writer, editor and facilitator and I am passionate about the transformative power of stories. I am a qualified community development worker, and have delivered creative workshops and large-scale collaborations with artists and organisations in a wide range of public settings. The following are just a handful of the projects I have loved being involved in.
Poetry Films
In 2021-22, I worked with the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation and Poet in the City to create two new poetry films.
Collections in Verse
Between 2018-2021, I worked with The British Library and Poet in the City to bring a London exhibition to life in Sheffield, through poetry, film and performance. I ran a series of listening workshops with Sheffield Libraries to find out about the experiences and histories of women in the city, and collaborated with various artists on a multimedia poetry performance, film, exhibition and mural.
Your Mind Matters
In 2022, I worked with young people from Forces Children Scotland to co-produce a website about the specific challenges they faced in relation to their mental health and wellbeing.
Story Exchange & Immersive Audio
From 2021-24, I worked as a creative facilitator on the Wellcome funded Let’s Talk About Cough story exchange, which aims to create empathy and understanding about chronic cough and its impact on people’s lives by sharing stories in creative ways. The story exchange led to further collaboration with researchers, people with lived experience and artists to create an a immersive audio experience, One in Ten and a pocket book about living with chronic cough.
Rachel Bower 