Rachel Carney

Rachel Carney is a Cardiff based poet, visual artist, creative writing tutor and academic. Her debut collection Octopus Mind was selected as one of The Guardian’s Best Poetry Books of 2023. She worked in museum learning, research and community engagement for several years, and recently completed a PhD, examining how ekphrastic poetry can enrich our engagement with art in museums. She currently teaches at Cardiff University and Swansea University. Her poems, articles and reviews have been published in numerous magazines including Poetry Wales, Envoi, Under the Radar, New Welsh Review, Ink Sweat and Tears, Poetry Saltzburg Review and Acumen. Some of her poems have been translated into Italian and Romanian. In 2021 she won the Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Competition, came 2nd in the Bangor Poetry Competition and was highly commended in the Liverpool Poetry Prize. She’s also had two poems shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and one poem nominated for the Forward Prize, as well as being placed in several other competitions. She blogs at createdtoread.com.

Photo credit Suzie Larke.