# Rachel Rabbit White
**Rachel Rabbit White** is an American poet, essayist, and freelance journalist formerly based in New York City.[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) • [2](https://www.elle.com/author/1435/rachel-rabbit-white/) She is the author of the poetry collection **Porn Carnival** (Wonder, 2019) and the chapbook *Poetry is so Lesbian* (Wonder, 2019).[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) An extended edition, *Porn Carnival: The Paradise Edition*, was released in Fall 2020.[3](https://www.poetryproject.org/people/rachel-rabbit-white/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Debut collection | *Porn Carnival* (Wonder, 2019), her first full-length book of poetry[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) • [4](https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/books/Rachel-Rabbit-White-in-conversation-with-Sophia-Giovannitti/) |
| Chapbook | *Poetry is so Lesbian* (Wonder, 2019)[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) |
| Extended edition | *Porn Carnival: The Paradise Edition*, released Fall 2020[3](https://www.poetryproject.org/people/rachel-rabbit-white/) |
| Journalism | Vice "Sex Scenes" columnist, formerly of Playboy and Thought Catalog; also wrote for Cosmopolitan, NYMag.com, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and The New York Observer[4](https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/books/Rachel-Rabbit-White-in-conversation-with-Sophia-Giovannitti/) • [5](https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/rachel-rabbit-white/) |
| Reading series | Host of *Ceremony*, a monthly poetry reading series in Manhattan[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) |
| Residence | Brooklyn / New York City; later moved to Oxford, Mississippi[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/) • [6](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/rachel-rabbit-white-well-then-wellness-diary) |
| Relationship | Engaged (self-described "pious bride") to the novelist Nico Walker, author of *Cherry*[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/rachel-rabbit-white-well-then-wellness-diary) • [5](https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/rachel-rabbit-white/) |
## Writing and themes
Her debut full-length poetry collection, Porn Carnival, has been characterized as a wide-ranging reflection on the weariness of selling erotic labor within capitalism, as well as on the delight found in imagining worlds beyond heteronormative society's limits.[4](https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/books/Rachel-Rabbit-White-in-conversation-with-Sophia-Giovannitti/) The collection interweaves joy and nihilism, romance and despair.[7](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2020/02/03/rachel-rabbit-white/) A poem like "Monologue Beyond Midnight," a wry retort to an idea from Nietzsche's *The Gay Science*, shows her humor, anger, and intuition of sound and texture.[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/rachel-rabbit-white-interview-porn-carnival) Her work has been described as engaging the interplay of fantasy and materialism, labor, desire, and autonomy.[9](https://arts.columbia.edu/events/canceled-wolf-reading-series-rachel-rabbit-white)
She writes from within her own life. Rabbit White is a sex worker, and much of the poetry in *Porn Carnival* concerns her experiences in that line of work.[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/rachel-rabbit-white-interview-porn-carnival) The *Los Angeles Review of Books* contributor page states she has written hundreds of original pieces for Cosmopolitan, NYMag.com, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and [The New York Observer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-york-observer), among other outlets.[5](https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/rachel-rabbit-white/) She also writes essays, short fiction, and journalism, and maintains a blog, Temporary Paradise, on Patreon.[2](https://www.elle.com/author/1435/rachel-rabbit-white/)
## Paradise Edition and perfume
In December 2020, exactly one year after the original debut, she launched the expanded *Paradise Edition* re-issue of *Porn Carnival*.[10](https://flaunt-mag.squarespace.com/content/rachel-rabbit-white-porn-carnival) The extended edition focuses more internally on a whirlwind romance and on how love can offer opportunities for transformation and rebirth, framing the second printing as a romantic turn from the reverie of the debut.[11](https://www.newestyork.co/rachel-rabbit-white-interview) The release was accompanied by a perfume, developed with a collaborator named Marissa.[10](https://flaunt-mag.squarespace.com/content/rachel-rabbit-white-porn-carnival) • [12](https://www.ssense.com/en-gb/editorial/culture/rachel-rabbit-whites-misty-remembrances)
## Public persona and community
Rabbit White has been described as a poet, sex worker, advocate and party girl who hosted parties at her Brooklyn apartment.[13](https://capsule98.com/bedroom-diaries/rachel-rabbit-white/) She has been dubbed the "hooker laureate of the dirtbag left."[13](https://capsule98.com/bedroom-diaries/rachel-rabbit-white/) In 2019, she ran a study group meets performance art piece called Sex Cult Book Club, formed in the immediate aftermath of the passage of SESTA/FOSTA legislation, which she organized as a community space for writers and sex workers.[4](https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/books/Rachel-Rabbit-White-in-conversation-with-Sophia-Giovannitti/)
Her monthly reading series, Ceremony, has been described as a ritual: people come together, drink, mingle, then hear poems.[7](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2020/02/03/rachel-rabbit-white/) She has said that being able to come back to poetry, to find time and energy and space for it, is a matter of luck and privilege, and that she does not take for granted that if she has worked enough she can sit for days writing.[7](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2020/02/03/rachel-rabbit-white/)
## Relationship with Nico Walker
In December 2020, Vanity Fair published a wellness diary in which she announced her engagement to the novelist [Nico Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/nico-walker), the veteran turned convict and author of *Cherry*.[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/rachel-rabbit-white-well-then-wellness-diary) At that time Walker was on parole in [Oxford, Mississippi](https://www.edgepedia.org/oxford-mississippi), where White had moved from Brooklyn.[6](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/rachel-rabbit-white-well-then-wellness-diary) The couple later lived in [Alphabet City, Manhattan](https://www.edgepedia.org/alphabet-city-manhattan), according to a Columbia University School of the Arts event page.[9](https://arts.columbia.edu/events/canceled-wolf-reading-series-rachel-rabbit-white) She has said that writing poetry about and to Nico came more easily and gracefully than poems ever had before.[11](https://www.newestyork.co/rachel-rabbit-white-interview)
## Reception
Reviewing *Porn Carnival* in *The Rumpus*, a writer described Rabbit White as "a free and empowered descendant of Sappho singing a siren's song," noting that the collection includes short poems as well as long and sprawling works of experimental free verse.[14](https://therumpus.net/2020/02/28/porn-carnival-by-rachel-rabbit-white/) Her work has appeared in *The Believer*, Brooklyn Rail, BOMB, Vogue, The Poetry Project, and The Rumpus, among other publications.[1](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/)
## References
1. [Rachel Rabbit White, The Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rachel-rabbit-white/)
2. [Rachel Rabbit White, ELLE contributor page](https://www.elle.com/author/1435/rachel-rabbit-white/)
3. [Rachel Rabbit White, The Poetry Project](https://www.poetryproject.org/people/rachel-rabbit-white/)
4. [Rachel Rabbit White with Sophia Giovannitti, The Brooklyn Rail (November 2019)](https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/books/Rachel-Rabbit-White-in-conversation-with-Sophia-Giovannitti/)
5. [Rachel Rabbit White, Los Angeles Review of Books contributor page](https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/rachel-rabbit-white/)
6. [Rachel Rabbit White Finds Perspective in Cemetery Nudes and False Lashes, Vanity Fair (December 14, 2020)](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/12/rachel-rabbit-white-well-then-wellness-diary)
7. [Poetry is Play: Rachel Rabbit White Interviewed, BOMB Magazine (February 3, 2020)](https://bombmagazine.org/articles/2020/02/03/rachel-rabbit-white/)
8. [Poet Rachel Rabbit White Is a Student of Romance, True Love, and Sex, Vogue (January 17, 2020)](https://www.vogue.com/article/rachel-rabbit-white-interview-porn-carnival)
9. [*CANCELED* The Wolf Reading Series with Rachel Rabbit White, Columbia University School of the Arts](https://arts.columbia.edu/events/canceled-wolf-reading-series-rachel-rabbit-white)
10. ['Porn Carnival: Paradise Edition' / Rachel Rabbit White Talks Poetry, Perfume, Pandemic, Flaunt Magazine](https://flaunt-mag.squarespace.com/content/rachel-rabbit-white-porn-carnival)
11. [As If Love Were Art: Interview with Rachel Rabbit White, Newest York](https://www.newestyork.co/rachel-rabbit-white-interview)
12. [Rachel Rabbit White's Misty Remembrances, SSENSE](https://www.ssense.com/en-gb/editorial/culture/rachel-rabbit-whites-misty-remembrances)
13. [Rachel Rabbit White, Capsule 98](https://capsule98.com/bedroom-diaries/rachel-rabbit-white/)
14. [Time Is Money: Porn Carnival by Rachel Rabbit White, The Rumpus (February 28, 2020)](https://therumpus.net/2020/02/28/porn-carnival-by-rachel-rabbit-white/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Poets › American and Canadian poets*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license