Rachel New

Rachel joined Creative Lives in January 2020 as the new Creative Lives On Air Producer at BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire. 

Rachel is a radio broadcaster who began her career in the 1990s, working her way around the West Midlands presenting shows in Wolverhampton and the Black Country, Birmingham and Coventry. Also dipping her toe in the stand-up comedy pond she was a BBC Comedy Newcomer runner-up in 2000. In 2013 she began an MA in Creative Writing which led to a PhD at the University of Birmingham and the position of Writer-in-Residence at the Birmingham Literature Festival in 2013 and 2014. Always interested in people and their stories, in 2018 she launched a podcast about homelessness, giving a voice to those we usually see but don't hear. Rachel also runs creative workshops offering people the chance to explore their inner maker using copper. 

"Coventry is an incredibly creative city. I love working with small groups of people who are just getting stuck in - whether it's sketching, drumming or writing. They know only too well how good for the soul it is to get lost in the 'flow' of making and doing and I love to help facilitate that work, finding exciting projects to collaborate on and new spaces around the city to work in."