Bush, Rachel

IN BRIEF

Rachel Bush has published several collections of poetry, and her writing has appeared in such journals as Sport and Landfall. Her first collection was titled, The Hungry Woman, and it was published in 1997. Hamesh Wyatt writes, ‘Bush’s writing is superbly natural and alive’. This collection was followed by The Unfortunate Singer in 2002, a mixture of poetry, diary extracts and short prose pieces that extend themes from her first collection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bush, Rachel (1941 - ) is a poet whose work has appeared in journals including Sport, Landfall and Faber's Introduction.

Cilla McQueen praised The Hungry Woman (1997) for its 'wry sense of humour,' describing the book as 'a beguiling mixture of poetry, diary extracts and short prose pieces,which are firmly grounded in New Zealand.'

'Bush's writing is superbly natural and alive,' writes Hamesh Wyatt. 'She grabs the first opportunity to be sensationally creepy, disturbing and frightening.'

The Hungry Woman is based on work completed while Bush was a member of the first MA course in creative writing at Victoria University.

The Unfortunate Singer (2002) extends the themes of The Hungry Woman (1997). The book is a mixture of poetry, diary extracts and short prose pieces. Bush draws on a Seraphine Pick painting for some of her inspiration. She writes, 'The images in Seraphine Pick's painting are both odd and familiar: I like this combination. A poem too, can be an act of love for something known or something dreamed about.'

Back to top