Poetry Films
In 2021-22, Rachel worked with the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation and Poet in the City to record two new poetry films.
Your Mind Matters
In 2022, Rachel worked with young people from Forces Children Scotland to co-produce a website about mental health and wellbeing.
Let’s Talk About Cough
From 2021-22 Rachel worked as a creative facilitator on the Wellcome funded Let’s Talk About Cough story exchange, supporting researchers from the University of Manchester and Imperial College London to share their stories with people with lived experience of cough through creative workshops and activities.
Mothering in Neonatal Intensive Care
In 2021, Rachel worked as a creative facilitator with the University of Dundee to support women to tell their stories about their experience of Neonatal Intensive Care Units through a series of creative workshops.
Wild Writes
Rachel founded Wild Writes in 2020 – workshops which encourage people to connect to creativity and nature. She runs these in a range of settings – from connecting with everyday nature in Sheffield Parks to wild workshops and retreats in the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales.
Poets of Northern England & Nigeria: Collaboration & Conflict (University of Leeds/ Leverhulme Trust)
From 2016 – 2020, Rachel worked on a research project at the University of Leeds investigating the links between poets in Northern England and Nigeria in the 1950s and 60s (funded by a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship). The articles and special issues that came from this research can be seen here.
Hear my Voice/ Mothers Who Make (Barnsley BC/ Barnsley Museums)
Rachel has worked with Barnsley Museums on various projects including producing digital poetry workshops for Hear My Voice 2020, and running a workshop with Helen Mort and Toria Garbutt for a Mothers Who Make Special 2019.
Listening Project (British Library/ Poet in the City)
From 2018-2021 Rachel worked with Poet in the City and the British Library on a project called Collections in Verse, which aims to bring exhibitions to life through poetry and performance. Rachel 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.
Guest Editor: A3 Review
Rachel was the Guest Editor of Issues 12 and 13 of The A3 Review in 2020. This included creating prompts, reviewing submissions, editing and publicising the magazine.
Women of Steel BBC Radio/ National Poetry Day
In 2016, Rachel was commissioned by BBC Radio to write a poem about Sheffield for National Poetry Day. She chose to commemorate the work that the ‘women of steel’ did in the steel factories during the war in a poem which also celebrates the strength of community in Sheffield today.
Verse Matters
Rachel founded and ran Verse Matters, a feminist arts collective, from 2015 – 2017. Verse Matters is now run by the collective, who organise regular events in Sheffield, creating a supportive space for people to share poetry, music and stories. The Verse Matters Anthology (Valley Press), co-edited with Helen Mort, was published in November 2017.
Rachel Bower 