Dr
Rachel Bentham
- Senior Lecturer - Creative Writing
- Email: r.bentham@bathspa.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)117 9714507
- School or Department: School of Creative Industries
- Campus: Newton Park

Personal statement
Dr Bentham teaches MA courses and co-ordinates undergraduate courses.
Her main responsibilities are looking after staff and students, and her research interests include historical writing, writing about other cultures, and haiku.
She has published and broadcast poetry, short stories and radio drama, especially docudrama, internationally. She has won a US prize for poetry, and is the author of a prizewinning film script.
Clear professional writing is another area of interest, and Rachel works with government depts, NGOs and entrepreneurs helping them to write clearly and effectively.
Academic qualifications
- MA, Bath Spa University
- PhD Creative Writing.
Prizes
- 1999: Sole winner of the ‘Picture This’ prize for film script Learning the Ropes
- 2005: 1st prize in the U.S.A. International Open Poetry Contest.
Publications:
Stories broadcast by BBC Radio 4:
- 1997 - The Body
- 1998 - Poison Garden
- 1998 - When should we live, if not now?
- 2000 - Learning the Ropes
- 2004 – Gymslip
- 2010 – Rip Off.
Docudramas and plays broadcast by BBC Radio 4:
- 1999 - On The Rob
- 2000 - Hanging Around
- 2003 - Dolly Shepherd, the Edwardian Parachute Queen
- 2006 - Cast in Stone.
Edited anthologies:
- Rachel Bentham, Alyson Hallett (ed.) Project Boast, Dorset, Triarchy Press, 2018.
Poetry anthologies:
- Alana Farrell (ed.) Rats for Love. Bristol, Bristol Broadsides, 1990
- PVT West, SJ Allen and G Hague (eds.) Rive Gauche. Bristol, Rive Gauche Publishing, 1997
- Sacha Tremain (ed.) Flowers on a Shoestring. Bristol, Institute of Physics Publishing, 2002
- Santosh Kumar (ed.) Symphonies. Allahabad, India, Cyberwit.net,. 2003
- Todd Swift (ed.) 100 Poets Against the War. Cambridge, Salt Publishing, 2003
- David Johnson and Peter Hunter(eds) City. Bristol, Paralalia, 2004
- Andrew Himes (ed) withJan Bultmann, Voices in Wartime ; Anthology. Seattle, Whit Press, 2005
- Pat VT West and Gill Hague What She also Did Was… Bristol, Rive Gauche, 2007
- Monica Jones (ed) Up to Our Necks In It; Poems on the Way We Live Now. Bristol, Black Tulip Books, 2009
- Susan Richardson and Gail Ashton (eds) In The Telling. Blaenau Ffestiniog, Cinnamon Press, 2009.
- Rachel Bentham and Sheila Yeger (eds) It was not and never would be enough and… Bristol, Rive Gauche, 2010.
Stories:
- J Gay and E Hargrave (eds) Her Majesty. Birmingham, Tindal Street Press, 2002
- Rachel Hazlewood (ed), Bristol Tales. York, Endpapers, 2005
- Ginny Bailey and Sally Flint (eds) Riptide – Vol 4. Exeter, Dirt Pie Press, 2009.
Professional memberships
- Fellow of the HEA
- Society of Authors.
Bath Spa employment
- 2001-present.
Subjects
- Writing for Theatre and Radio
- Prose Fiction
- Writing Workshop.
Other external roles
- Consultant, Writing Project.
Areas of expertise
- Historical writing
- Radio drama
- Professional writing.
Research and academic outputs
Project boast
book
Bentham, R and Hallett, A, eds. (2018) Project boast. Triarchy Press, Axminster, England. ISBN 9781911193418
It was not and never would be enough and poems by Pat V.T. West
book
Bentham, R and Yeger, S (2010) It was not and never would be enough and poems by Pat V.T. West. Rive Gauche, Bristol. ISBN 9780953037025
Short man
book_section
Bentham, R (2010) 'Short man.' In: Jones, M, ed. Up to our necks in it: poems on the way we live now. lulu.com, p. 47. ISBN 9781409297826
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2009) 'Poem.' In: Richardson, S and Ashton, G, eds. In the telling. Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog. ISBN 9781905614929
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2007) 'Poem.' In: West, P.V.T and Hague, G, eds. What she also did was... poems about our mothers. Rive Gauche, Bristol. ISBN 9780953037018
Short story
book_section
Bentham, R (2005) 'Short story.' In: Bailey, G and Flint, S, eds. Riptide: v. 4: short stories with an undercurrent. Dirt Pie Press, Exeter, pp. 35-41. ISBN 9780955832628
Short story
book_section
Bentham, R (2005) 'Short story.' In: Hazelwood, R, ed. Bristol tales. Endpapers, York. ISBN 9780954936358
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2005) 'Poem.' In: Himes, A and Bultmann, J, eds. Voices in wartime: the anthology. Whit Press, Seattle. ISBN 9780972020534
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2004) 'Poem.' In: Santosh, K, ed. Symphonies: anthology of poems. Cyberwit.net, Allahabad, India. ISBN 9788190136631
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2004) 'Poem.' In: Johnson, D and Hunter, P, eds. City: Bristol today in poems and pictures. Paralalia, Bristol. ISBN 9780954811709
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2003) 'Poem.' In: Swift, T, ed. 100 poets against the war. Salt, Cambridge. ISBN 9781876857981
Short story
book_section
Bentham, R (2002) 'Short story.' In: Gay, J and Hargrave, E, eds. Her Majesty: 21 stories by women. Tindal Street Press, Birmingham. ISBN 9780953589579
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (2002) 'Poem.' In: Tremain, S, ed. Flowers on a shoestring. Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol.
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (1997) 'Poem.' In: West, P.V.T, Allen, S.J and Hague, G, eds. Rive Gauche: women poets writing and performing in Bristol in the 1990's. Rive Gauche, Bristol. ISBN 9780953037001
Poem
book_section
Bentham, R (1990) 'Poem.' In: Farrell, A, ed. Rats for love. Bristol Broadsides, Bristol. ISBN 9780906944424
The stranger within: Heaven on Earth and The secret river
thesis
Bentham, R (2014) The stranger within: Heaven on Earth and The secret river. PhD thesis, Bath Spa University.
Dolly Shepherd, the Edwardian parachute queen
audio
Bentham, R (2003) Dolly Shepherd, the Edwardian parachute queen.