Rachel Spence is a writer whose practice encompasses poetry, memoir, non-fiction, art criticism and journalism.

Born in South Wales, Rachel grew up in the Midlands before studying at the University of East Anglia and later taking an MA in Literature in English at Queen Mary College, London.

From 2002 to 2011, she was based in Venice, Italy. Subsequently she returned to the UK. Today she moves between London, Shropshire and Venice.

As a poet, Rachel has been praised by Stephanie Sy-Quia for her 'killer eye for detail' and capacity to " an emotional punch on the turn of a half-line". Ella Frears observed that her poems enjoy "a wild beating heart and a steady hand."

Her first collection Bird of Sorrow was highly commended in the 2019 Forward Prizes. The title poem was a prize winner in PN Review's 2019 Poetry Prize.

Individual poems have appeared on BBC's The Verb and in The North, PN Review, The London Magazine, The Indian Quarterly, 14 magazine, Tears in the Fence, inksweatandtears and the Financial Times among other publications.

Her non-fiction book, Battle for the Museum, which considers the relationship between art, money and power, was an FT book of the year. It was described in the Literary Review as 'personal, thought-provoking... highly entertaining ... compelling reading for anyone interested in contemporary art".

Her writing has appeared in the Financial Times, The Art Newspaper, Hyperallergic, Red Pepper, thewire.in, the Guardian, the Independent, The Independent on Sunday and The London Magazine.

Rachel has written essays about individual artists including Nasreen Mohamedi, Vicken Parsons, Shirazeh Houshiary, Hajra Waheed, Annie Morris, Charlotte Verity and Novera Ahmed.

Rachel runs poetry readings at Four Rivers Nursing Home, Ludlow, Shropshire.