Rachel Bower
Poet, Novelist
About
Rachel Bower is an award-winning poet and novelist from Bradford. Her debut novel, It Comes from the River was published by Bloomsbury (2025). Her latest poetry collection, Bee, was published by Hazel Press (2025). Rachel is also the author of two other poetry collections and an academic book on literary letters. Rachel edited the Family Lines anthology with Simon Armitage (Faber & Faber, 2026).
Rachel’s poems and stories have been widely published in magazines and newspapers, including in the Guardian, the London Magazine, the White Review, Magma and The Rialto. She won the London Magazine Short Story prize and the W&A Short Story competition in 2020. Her stories have been listed for many other prizes, including the White Review Short Story prize, the BBC Short Story prize and the RSL V. S. Pritchett Short Story prize. Rachel was also awarded second place in the Michael Marks Environmental Poet of the Year 2024 and was shortlisted for the Best Poem of UK Landscape 2023.
Rachel is a qualified Community Development Worker and has facilitated creative workshops for many years with a wide range of organisations, including schools, libraries, youth centres, the Poetry School, Poet in the City and the British Library. Rachel has a PhD in English from the University of Cambridge and has taught at the universities of Cambridge, Leeds and Sheffield Hallam. Rachel is also a beekeeper, cold-water lover and hybrid fitness enthusiast! Her work is represented by Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown.