About Ren Powell
Ren has been a member of The Norwegian Author's Union since 2005, and has published six full-length collections of poetry (and more than a dozen books of translations) with traditional publishing houses.
Her poetry collections have been purchased by the Norwegian Arts Council for national library distribution, and her poems have been translated and published in six languages.
Her non-fiction essays have appeared in anthologies and magazines, and her dramatic works have been performed in the U.S., Canada and Norway.
Ren has a BA in Theater Arts from Texas A&M, and an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.
This Choice: Amy MacLennan
This Choice is Who You Are has been my mantra these past years: a mantra for becoming the person I want to be. I believe that choosing to live with the attention that poetry demands is a good start. In the podcasts, I look to other artists to learn from their experiences. I ask poets how their work with poetry influences […]
This Choice: Marion Cohen
This Choice is Who You Are has been my mantra these past years: a mantra for becoming the person I want to be. I believe that choosing to live with the attention that poetry demands is a good start. In the podcasts, I look to other artists to learn from their experiences. I ask poets how their work with poetry influences […]
Stuff I Dug Out of the Mud
Dear Richard, That you should quote Dylan Thomas! Last night I watched Set Fire to the Stars. In it, Thomas says something about liking humanity more when it sleeps. I don’t know if he really said that, but I’ve been thinking about it since then: before bed last night, on this morning’s run. It’s too late now […]
Some Reviews & Testimonials
about Mercy Island
by Ren Powell
“Ren Powell takes the world in whole, ‘negotiates a new language,’ and gives it back to us in all its terror, strangeness, pain and beauty. Many of these poems read like fable: a woman with a gown of eggshells, a stone turtle that captures the essence of a childhood. Other poems testify to the resilience of the human spirit even after the unspeakable happens. I loved these poems for the freshness of the language, for their deep truths and most of all for their compassion.”
Patricia Fargnoli, author of six collections of poetry, winner of the ForeWord Magazine Silver Poetry Book of the Year Award, and Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, 2006-2009
“… And sexy. These poems are sexy. And if I say dangerous, too, you’ll get the wrong idea. It’s not the danger and sex we’re used to from action heroes or rock stars. It’s something like the edge of the world…Ren’s poems are… showing me things I may not know how to talk about.”
Carolee D. Sherwood, poet and blogger
“The narrator in this fine collection is explorer and cartographer of a multitude of emotional, spiritual and international landscapes. Whether ruthlessly illuminating even the darkest corners in the rooms of herself, or putting on the lives of other women like so many beautiful garments, with tenderness and respect, Ren Powell’s narrator holds our attention and enriches our thinking.”
Nic Sebastian, poet and blogger, reviews Mercy Island for Goodreads.
Phoenicia Publishing. Preview.
about Mixed States
by Ren Powell
“This handsome hardcover book, facing poems (English on the one side, Norwegian on the other), makes crossing from one language to another a fascinating exercise.
With uncompromisingly direct language and powerful imagery, her work comes from a vision similar to that of Flannery O’Connor or Cormac McCarthy: powerful images of a truth that slips aside just as one turns to view it straight on.”
Reviewed by Laura Kennelly
Small Press Review. July-August, 2005
about An Intimate Retribution
by Ren Powell
: “…as the title suggests, there is an expansion of the interpretation of ‘intimate’ .While the poet’s concern for animals and nature is evident, the book also focuses concretely on persecuted writers and rebellions against authority […] However, Ren Powell is no way a political slogan poet. These poems introduce us to the wondrous within our own lives. There is a varied use of language and the wide range of themes and poetic forms— but we are always brought back to the vulnerable and exposed aspects of human beings and nature. […] Perhaps what is most impressive is Ren Powell’s certain hand as she ventures far beyond the familiar when it comes to associations and images, to create remarkable, beautiful lines of verse, the likes of which are seldom seen.”
Helge Torvund in Stavanger Aftenblad, 2010
Regarding mentoring…
“My Graduate Mentor, Ren Powell, offered advice and guidance that refocused my essay writing abilities, emphasizing creativity and honest discourse over argumentation. […] Ren was supportive, and her feedback was detailed and well-stated. Through her correspondences, Ren is personable, and she respects student input and agency. She rarely dictates specific “solutions” to problems in a draft; instead, she provides guidance designed to help me find the best path for my learning and writing style. She poses thoughtful ideas and questions that get me rethinking and revising in the right direction.”
James Gapinski, MFA
“Ren sitt skriveverksted løftet fram mine egne og andres ubrukte evner på en enkel og overraskende måte. Hun inspirerte meg til å få tak på uante, veldig produktive og kreative sider, og gjorde det overraskende lett å få tak på min egen stemme som forfatter og å skape nye uttrykk. For eksempel overrasket jeg meg selv med å kunne skrive tøysete regler i en fart og uten en eneste selvkritisk tanke. Og med å kunne kombinere sekvenser basert på egenerfarte hendelser som hadde litterær og poetisk dybde og tyngde. Hun åpnet opp for, og veiledet den enkelte inn mot sitt eget unike forhold til det å skape og skrive, samtidig som vi hele tiden befant oss i et lyttende og nærende samspill med hverandre. I kroppen min duver ennå båten vi sjøsatte den gangen for over 3 år siden.”
Ingunn Mandt Larsen
For more information regarding workshops or private mentoring, write me here.
