In March I exhibited an interactive poetry-object titled ‘Poem Under Construction’ as part of the annual Hadau Exhibition. The theme of this year’s exhibition was ‘Is it Finished?’ and my piece responds to this theme in a literal sense: the artwork requires audience interaction in order to become ‘finished’. It invites viewers to add words, phrases or drawings, and to place these inside the collaged crate. Once the exhibition came to an end, I typed up all of the contributions, and have now formed these into a collage-poem which you can listen to below… Continue reading
Author: Rachel Carney
Back to the Book Blog: Teaching, Readings and Reviews
I used to love writing blog posts and book reviews, and then I became a PhD student. From 2019 to 2024 I buried myself waist-deep in research while juggling a career as a freelance poet, creative writing teacher and academic. So I’m afraid this blog has taken a back seat for a while. Inspired by some of my fellow poets and their fabulous writer blogs (Natalie Ann Holborrow and Zoë Brigley, in particular) I am going to try and add a new blog post at least once a month, so here we go… Continue reading
Happy New Year! Here are my Literary Highlights of 2024
2024 began with the completion of the PhD, and then in May I was invited to read at the Aberystwyth Poetry Festival, where I enjoyed three days of sunshine and poetry performance. It meant a lot to me to be able to return to the place where it all began, reflecting on all that has happened since I began studying creative writing there in 2003. Nineteen-year-old me could never have imagined I would one day return, to read my poems in front of an audience at the town’s public library!
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Poetry Review: This Common Uncommon by Rae Howells
Can poetry protect the natural world? Can it actually change the course of events? Many poets are attempting to do just that, but it’s not often that a collection is published with a specific purpose, centred on a particular location. Rae Howells’ latest book focuses on West Cross Common, a small area of peat-based heathland on the edge of Swansea, which is currently under threat of development. But these poems do far more than protest. They celebrate the minutiae of a rare and intricate habitat, the kind of inconspicuous scrubland that many of us would normally walk past without a second glance.
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A Month of Poetry: Highlights from The Sealey Challenge
I first attempted the Sealey Challenge in 2021. The aim is to read a whole book of poetry every day throughout the month of August. And this year I decided to try it again, thinking it would be a helpful way to delve into the stack of poetry books that I’ve been meaning to read for the last few months. Although there were a couple of days when I read poetry magazines, rather than collections, I think my total of 28 out of 31 days is pretty good going. So here are my favourite books from this year’s Sealey Challenge… Continue reading
A List of Poetry Festivals in the UK
Poetry festivals provide the ultimate opportunity to hear poets perform their work, and to enjoy discussing poetry with like-minded folk. So here is a list of poetry festivals taking place in the UK. I have previously attended Cheltenham, Verve and Ledbury myself, and was lucky enough to be invited to perform at the Aberystwyth festival this year(!) but would also love to attend or perform at many of the others (So, if you are a festival organiser, and would like to invite me along to do a reading or deliver a workshop, please do let me know…) Continue reading
Recent Audio Recordings, Performances, and Collaborative/Collage Poems
I have always loved attending poetry readings. There is something unique about a performance, where the combination of setting, audience, and sound creates a space in which each and every word reverberates beyond the page on which it was written. I am delighted to now have three of my poems published as audio clips in the online poetry magazine iamb… So I thought I’d write a blog post to celebrate, and to look back on some other audio poems that I’ve created in the last few years.
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Review: New Poetry Collections by Clare E. Potter and Rhian Elizabeth
It’s been a while since I last posted a book review… so here are two new poetry collections by two local South Wales poets, both of which I highly recommend: Healing the Pack by clare e potter is published by Verve Poetry Press, and Rhian Elizabeth’s collection girls etc is published by Broken Sleep Books.
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Writing & Place – Celebrating the end of the PhD at Aberystwyth Poetry Festival
As an undergraduate creative writing student studying at Aberystwyth University, I struggled with the ‘writing place’ assignment. I didn’t feel any strong sense of connection with any particular location. Yet so many writers talk about the importance of place in their work. Many Welsh-born writers, in particular, celebrate their connection to the country of their birth. I have always been jealous of those writers who identify strongly with a particular place.
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An Ekphrastic Update: Exhibition, Course, and Conference
As my final year of being a PhD student draws to a close, I’m excited to be continuing my work on ekphrasis (writing poetry in response to art) in lots of different ways! First, there is still time to visit the Wales Millennium Centre where you can see our Explore Collective project exhibition: Freedom to Create.
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My Literary Highlights of 2023 – Publication, Art & The PhD!
This year has been an incredible milestone, with the publication of my debut collection Octopus Mind in July. It felt like everything was leading up to that moment, and the launch was a wonderful celebration of all that hard work, cheered on by the people who have encouraged and supported me over the past 39 years. Continue reading
My Top 5 Books of 2023 – Poetry
2023 has been a momentous year for my own poetic journey, but it has also led me to some intriguing poetry collections published by others. These five books were not all published in 2023, but this was the year in which I discovered them. Continue reading
My Top 5 Books of 2023 – Fiction
For me, this year has been both immensely exciting and unbelievably challenging, in more ways than one, and through it all, these novels have kept me going. I struggled to pick my top five fiction books, so I’ve added a special mention at the end. These books were not all published in 2023, but they are all fairly new… Continue reading
The End of an Era: Completing the PhD at Gregynog Hall
In December 2019 I visited Gregynog Hall for the first time – a gorgeous, rambling old mansion in mid Wales, where the annual Cardiff University Creative Writing retreat takes place. I was still working out what the plan would be for my PhD over the coming years, with no concept of what 2020 would bring. Continue reading
What Are You Looking For? An Ekphrastic Interactive Exhibition
Last year I put together an interactive poetry exhibition at National Museum Cardiff, and loads of people took part, writing poems and other texts in response to the artwork and other people’s poems, drawings and comments. Since then, as part of my PhD, I’ve been writing my own poems in response – an ekphrastic response to ekphrastic response… and some of my poems have morphed from text into 3D objects! Continue reading
An Online Book Launch!
I’m excited to announce that I’m having a second book launch! This one will be on Zoom, on 14th September from 7.30pm. I’m delighted to have two wonderful poets joining me as guest readers – Christina Thatcher and Mary Mulholland. The event is free to attend, but you’ll need to register via Eventbrite, to get the link. Continue reading
The books have arrived! And upcoming readings…
I am so so grateful to everyone who came along to my book launch last week. The room was full of friendly faces and my family came all the way from Sheffield, Manchester and Coventry, including my niece (age 7) who also writes poetry, and nephew (3 months) who slept through most of it. Clare Potter and Philip Gross gave wonderful readings, and we nearly sold out of books! I have now received my own big box of author copies, and will be selling them at other events. Continue reading
PhD Progress, Poetry, Collage and My Book Launch!
I have struggled a lot with my health over the past few months, but I also have a lot to be thankful for in what is effectively the final year of my PhD. The two writing retreats I attended in December were fruitful. I spent much of January writing new poems based on the January Writing Hour prompts provided by Kim Moore and Clare Shaw, inspired by the response to my interactive poetry museum display last autumn. Continue reading
Creative Women: Matrix by Lauren Groff and Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul
I’ve not managed to post many book reviews recently, as I’ve been struggling with chronic fatigue while completing my PhD and getting my own book ready for publication. So I’m going to post a few mini-reviews over the summer, reflecting on some of the incredible books I’ve read over the past year. The first two books are very different but they both focus on the experiences of women. Continue reading
Octopus Mind: My Debut Poetry Collection
I am delighted (in an introvert head-in-sand kind of way) to reveal the cover and blurb of my debut poetry collection Octopus Mind. It can now be pre-ordered from Seren Books! The publication date is 3rd July. And the launch will be on 10th July in Cardiff. Continue reading