Carrie Rudzinski (she/her) is an internationally award winning poet, published author, and teaching artist who has performed over the past 18 years in 7 countries and across the United States. In 2019, she won the Pussy Riot award at the Auckland Fringe Festival and received a standing ovation at Tedx Christchurch. Featured in Bustle, HuffPost and Teen Vogue, her poems have been published in such collections as Landfall, The Spinoff, Stasis Journal, Learn Then Burn, Catalyst, and Muzzle. She is the co-editor of Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand (AUP, 2023).
Carrie ranked 4th in the world at the 2014 Women of the World Poetry Slam and is a co-founder of Auckland's JAFA Poetry Slam. She has authored seven books, five spoken word albums, and performed at Auckland Readers and Writers Festival, Nelson Arts Festival, LitCrawl, WORD Christchurch, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
She is the co-creator of Hysterical (2022), which won Best New Aotearoa Play at Wellington Theatre Awards and Best Performance Poetry at Auckland Fringe Festival, as well as The Bitching Hour (2023), the world's first poetry theatre talk show.
Organisation/Company
Name: How We Survive Productions
My Role: Writer, Performer, Producer
How We Survive Productions is a poetry and theatre collective featuring internationally renowned poets and performers, Carrie Rudzinski and Olivia Hall. The collective was founded in 2016 and has written, produced and performed three full-length poetry theatre shows, How We Survive (2019), Hysterical (2022), and The Bitching Hour (2023). As well as public theatre performances, How We Survive Productions provides performances and writing workshops in high schools and universities to help give voice to the next generation of artists.
Hall and Rudzinski are the authors of two poetry collections published as companions to each of their shows. Hysterical won Best New Aotearoa Play at the Wellington Theatre Awards and Outstanding Performance Poetry at Auckland Fringe. They performed a full run of Hysterical at 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Carrie and Olivia's third show The Bitching Hour, a world first poetry talk show, debuted a development season in Auckland in 2023.
How We Survive Productions examines the intersection between poetry and theatre, creating a unique space for audiences to fully immerse themselves in honest emotion.
Iwi affiliation
I was born and raised in the midwest of the United States, in the land of cornfields and fireflies. My paternal grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine and Poland. My maternal great-grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland.
Rohe
I first fell in love with Aotearoa New Zealand in 2011 when I backpacked across the country. I moved to Auckland in 2015 with my partner and, as I was already a professional poet in the States, I became deeply involved in the national poetry community in New Zealand.
How I got where I am today
I've spent the past 18 years performing poetry in theatres, schools, universities, festivals, pubs, and libraries. I love my craft so much and feel incredible privilege that I get to blend writing and performance in such emotive, visceral ways. I also love teaching writing, performance, and performance poetry - I've taught workshops all over the world and have lectured at multiple tertiary institutions in the United States and New Zealand.
Whānau
My partner of 12 years is my family here in New Zealand alongside my poetry community. My parents and my two siblings are my favourite people in the world - they all live in the United States but our family group chat makes it feel like there is no distance at all. My kitten Marvin is my only child.
The Bitching Hour
Artform: Theatre
Development Status: Tour Ready
Media Uploads
Synopsis
The Bitching Hour: the world’s first poetry late night talk show. Join your hosts Olivia Hall and Carrie Rudzinski live as part of their studio audience as they unpack what’s happening in the world through poetry, laughter, and healthy bitch session among friends. Joined by a special guest artist every night, no two performances are ever the same.
With poems that clap back at injustice, The Bitching Hour fully embraces the sacred space of true friendship: where you can unburden yourself of the expectations of womanhood, celebrate your smallest victories, and never be judged when having a good old bitch.
Fresh off a full run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and winning Best New Aotearoa Play at the Wellington Theatre Awards for their smash hit Hysterical, best friends Liv and Carrie return to the stage ready to confront the expectations of women artists and heckle the patriarchy right back.
Creative Team and Crew
Carrie Rudzinski - Writer, performer, producer
Olivia Hall - Writer, performer, producer
Producer - TBC
Director - TBC
Number of People in the Touring Party
4
Previous Seasons
The Bitching Hour development season - Basement Theatre, Auckland June 2023
Reviews and Quotes
“The Bitching Hour is a celebration of the things we do to get us through this strange and exhausting world, the ways we find comfort and comradery. It was a warm and intimate experience, full of silliness and frivolity and a good old bitch.”
- Theatre Scenes, Review 2023
The Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) Arts Market is New Zealand's premiere event for artists, producers, presenters and industry leaders from across the performing arts sector.
The Performing Arts Network of New Zealand (PANNZ) Arts Market is New Zealand's premiere event for artists, producers, presenters and industry leaders from across the performing arts sector.