About Rae

Current Roles / Positions:

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RaeWhite_credit Chloe Callistemon_015RaeWhite_credit Chloe Callistemon_014

Photo credit: Chloë Callistemon.

About Rae:

Rae White is a non-binary transgender writer, educator and zine maker. Their poetry collection Milk Teeth (University of Queensland Press, 2018) won the 2017 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and commended in the 2018 Anne Elder Award.

Rae’s second poetry collection Exactly As I Am (UQP, 2022) was shortlisted for the 2023 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and the 2023 Judith Wright Calanthe Award in the Queensland Literary Awards.

Rae’s debut picture book All the Colours of the Rainbow, with illustrations by Sha’an d’Anthes, was published by Lothian Children’s Books/Hachette in January 2025.

Rae’s Bitsy poem-game stand up won the 2022 Woollahra Digital Literary Award for Digital Innovation, was featured in the Pride at Play exhibition 2023, was awarded an Honourable Mention in the 2024 Freeplay Awards, and was shortlisted in the 2023 Naarm/Melbourne Queer Games Festival Awards. Rae has also been shortlisted in both the 2021 and 2020 Woollahra Digital Literary Awards. Rae’s Bitsy game queer picnic was shortlisted for the 2024 Naarm/Melbourne Queer Games Festival Awards.

Rae is the Creative Director and Founder of community poetry initiative Uplift Poetry, and the Founding Editor of #EnbyLife, a journal for non-binary and gender diverse creatives. They are a co-host on the show Tranzmission on 4ZZZ radio and a member of the Board of Directors at Australian Poetry.

Rae has two poems published in Nothing to Hide – Voices of Trans and Gender-Diverse Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2022). Rae’s co-written poem with Svetlana Sterlin ‘Somewhere Light’ was winner of Palette Poetry’s 2025 Pen Pal Challenge.

Rae’s poem ‘The last tourist’ won the Highest Queensland Entry in 2020 Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award. Their poem ‘hussshhh’ won Highest Queensland Entry in the 2019 XYZ Prize for Innovation in Spoken Word. And their poem ‘what even r u?’ placed second in the 2017 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize.

In 2020, Rae completed a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship for their YA verse manuscript Welcome Home. Their short story ‘The Body Remembers’ placed second in 2019 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction.

Rae’s poetry has been published in Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Meanjin Quarterly, Overland, Rabbit and others. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Creative Writing Production) from Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Rae is represented by Danielle Binks at Jacinta di Mase Management.

Cover of the book ‘All the Colours of the Rainbow’ by Rae White, illustrated by Sha'an d'Anthes. It shows a whimsical, smiling character with purple hair painting a wall of rainbow arches in various colour combinations. Each rainbow has a smiley face, and the painter is surrounded by colourful paint cans. The text is written in playful purple font, and the background is a warm, pastel yellow.

Image description: Graphic image with the cover of Exactly As I Am which features the image of black and white shards surrounded by a yellow border. Beside the image is the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Australian Government and Creative Australia logos, and text that reads ‘2023 Shortlist. Poetry. Exactly As I Am. Rae White. University of Queensland Press.’ Below this is a grey footer with the text ‘Celebrating Australian Writing. creative.gov.au/pmlas.'

Image description: Dark blue sketch of a pineapple laying on its side, with dark blue text above it that reads ‘Queensland Literary Awards finalist’ on a yellow background.Picture of a black, white and yellow book cover that has a smashed glass kinda design, with the text 'Rae White, Exactly As I Am'

Banner for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2019, featuring a VPLA logo and a photo of Milk Teeth under the titles Shortlist and Poetry