Sarah Rice
Dr Sarah Rice is a poet, writer, art-theorist and visual artist. She is interested in the intersection between poetry, philosophy, music, and art.
Sarah’s poetry collection Fingertip of the Tongue (UWAP) won the Eyelands International Book Awards, and her limited-edition, art-book of poetry Those Who Travel is included in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia as well as other national and international institutions. Sarah’s project Text/ure (poetry, music, art) was the recipient of two Canberra Critics Circle Awards, and the resultant book Text/ure (Recent Work Press) was Highly Commended in the ACT Notable Book Awards.
Sarah won the inaugural Ron Pretty Poetry Award, the Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize, and co-won the International Writing Ventures, and Gwen Harwood Poetry Prizes. She placed second in the Val Vallis Awards. Sarah has been shortlisted in the Montreal, Bridport, Tom Howard, Drake-Brockman, CJ Dennis, New Millennium, Fish, Axel Clark, and Overland poetry awards, amongst others. Publications include the Global Poetry Anthology, Award Winning Australian Writing, Best Australian Poetry, Island, Overland, Southerly, Aesthetica, Cordite, The New Guard, ABR, and Australian Poetry Journal.
Sarah runs ‘ekphrastic’ art/poetry workshops in conjunction with institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, Red Room Poetry, Craft ACT, and Canberra Museum and Gallery; and writes long-form poetic exhibition catalogue essays (such as for the Foreign Looking: Mike Parr exhibition, NGA), as well as ‘creative’ academic papers such as for Text and Axon Journals. Sarah’s art and poetry were exhibited in the Material Poetics show at ANCA Gallery, and the Wordsmith exhibition at M16 Gallery. Sarah lectured for many years in Art-Theory at ANU School of Art, and previously in Philosophy at UNSW.
Sarah writes poetry in collaboration with artists across diverse media, including ceramicists, print-makers, photographers, and most recently, choral composers, and glass artists. Her collaboration with glass artist Lucy Quin was co-commissioned by Outer Space Gallery Brisbane, and Red Room Poetry, arising from Sarah’s shortlisting for the Red Room Fellowship. She was commissioned by Australian Design Centre to write an ekphrastic long-form poem for their Obsessed: Compelled to Make exhibition. Sarah’s most recent commission was to write a long-form poem for the Australian composer Ella Maceans who turned it into a symphonic choral composition performed in the ACT.