Artist of the Month: Rachel Carney

Artist of the Month is a feature where we put the spotlight on the incredible work of one of our members.

Our Artist of the Month for December is Rachel Carney!

Rachel Carney reading at Parc Arts - 2025

Rachel Carney is a poet, visual artist, academic and creative writing tutor. Her poetry collection Octopus Mind explores the intricacies of neurodiversity, perception and the human mind, and was selected as one of The Guardian’s Best Poetry Books of 2023. 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.

How did you get started with writing?

I’ve always been a writer, but for many years I tried submitting poems and stories to magazines without success. I studied creative writing at university, and enjoyed every minute of it, but then decided to pursue a ‘normal’ vocational career in museum work. At that point I stopped writing and gave up on my dream of becoming a published writer.

Several years later, I was made redundant, and ended up working in a much less interesting role. I was desperate for some kind of creative outlet, so I created a book blog – www.createdtoread.com. The process of reviewing other people’s books gradually gave me the confidence to revisit my own writing. I began performing at open mic nights, and started writing, editing and submitting again. I haven’t looked back since.

Could you tell us more about your course 'Writing Neurodiversity' and using poetry as a tool to process lived experience? Is this something that's important in your practice?

Rachel Carney reading at the launch of Octopus Mind in 2023

My natural instinct for every situation is to examine it through poetry. Even if the poems never get published, the act of writing them can be helpful, in a therapeutic sense. When I received a diagnosis of dyspraxia in my mid-30s, it was such a strange experience. I was grappling with this new-found self-knowledge, and at the same time I was learning how to advocate for myself and for others. Writing poems about this experience (some of which were eventually published in Octopus Mind) helped me to examine what it meant to claim labels such as ‘dyspraxia’, ‘neurodivergent’, and ‘hidden disability’ for myself. I found the language I needed to begin confronting the old stereotypes, and articulating my own experience.

Everyone’s experience of neurodivergence is different. I wanted to create a course where I can encourage others to use these same poetic tools to explore their own neurodivergent journey. Most importantly, the course is open to people at any stage in this process, including those who have not yet received an official diagnosis. The aim of the course is to create a safe and supportive space where we can begin to articulate, express and examine what it means to be neurodivergent, living in a neurotypical world.

How would you reflect on the experience of your PhD?

I have always been interested in writing poetry that responds to visual art (known as ‘ekphrasis’) and I also have several years’ experience of working in museums. The PhD brought these two interests together. It began with a simple question: How might poetry help us to engage with art in museums? I conducted online surveys and interviews, set up an interactive poetry display in one of the galleries at National Museum Cardiff, and analysed people’s creative responses to the art and to each other’s texts.

Interactive poetry display that took place at National Museum Cardiff in 2022

Two of the 3D poetry-objects created as part of the PhD on display as part of an interactive exhibition at West Wall Gallery, Urban Crofters in 2023

Then I used creative methods to analyse all of this data. This research led me to experiment in my own writing practice, too. As well as writing poems, and compiling collage poems from the words that museum visitors added to the display, I found ways of responding visually, through collage. I ended up creating a collection of visual 3D poetry-objects, which I have exhibited in various settings, along with an invitation for further interaction from viewers.

I began the PhD as a writer, and it has led me to expand my practice to include visual and interactive art. It also led me to develop my practice in performance and spoken word. A recent project involved the display of a ‘Poem Under Construction’ – a crate covered in collaged words. The piece was exhibited as part of the 2025 Hadau exhibition, and viewers were invited to add their contributions. Once the exhibition came to an end, I formed all of these contributions into a spoken word piece that you can listen to online. https://createdtoread.com/poem-under-construction-an-interactive-artwork/

Could you tell us more about your commission with SHAPE Arts?

SHAPE Arts contacted me to say that they were interested in my PhD research. I had no real idea where our initial conversation might lead, but eventually they offered me a commission. They were so supportive and encouraging. I wanted to create something that would enable me to expand the existing ekphrastic art/poetry conversation that I had already begun with the PhD. I also wanted to push myself out of my creative comfort zone, to try something new, and I’d always wanted to create a poetry film.

Snapshot of part of the web sculpture that was created for the poetry film 'Fragments of Us'

The film ‘Fragments of Us’ focuses on the process of making. It’s both a visual and audio representation of the relational aspects of ekphrasis. I wanted it to demonstrate how poems written in response to art can help us not only to engage with that art, but also to engage with each other.

The voiceover is formed from two of my collage-poems, where I took all of the plural pronouns ‘we’ and ‘our’ from museum visitors’ texts, and brought them together. You can read more about the process of creating the film on my blog: https://createdtoread.com/extending-the-ekphrastic-conversation-with-shape-arts/

Watch the film here - https://www.shapearts.org.uk/Blog/watch-fragments-of-us

You can also find out more about ekphrasis in this blog post, and listen to (or read) three of my ekphrastic poems: https://www.shapearts.org.uk/blog/art-inspiring-art-what-is-ekphrasis

What updates can we look out for over the coming months?

I’m working on four different books at the moment, including two poetry collections, but I can’t divulge any of the details quite yet. I’d be interested in collaboration opportunities, across artforms, so if anyone has a project, and is looking for a poet with a strong interest in visual, performance and interactive art, do get in touch. For upcoming performances and public readings, follow me on social media, or subscribe to my blog.

I’m doing quite a bit of teaching at the moment, and I’ll be running four online creative writing courses in 2026: https://createdtoread.com/about/events-workshops-projects/

·       Writing Neurodiversity: Processing Lived Experience through Poetry (10 weekly workshops, starts 27^th January) available to book now

·       Poetry Writing 2: Experimenting with Form and Technique (self-paced, starts 2^nd February) available to book from 1^st December.

·       Poetry Writing 3: Pushing Poetic Boundaries (self-paced, starts 3^rd May) available to book from early March.

·       Inspired by Art: Ekphrastic Poetry and Prose (self-paced, starts 11^th May) available to book from early March.

Socials

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/createdtoread/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/createdtoread 

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/createdtoread.bsky.social