Curriculum vitae

HANDBOUND COLLECTIONS

2021
Impermanence. Mad Orphan Lit.
Metta4 Vol. 1. Writing Prompts. Mad Orphan Lit.

TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED POETRY BOOKS

2017
The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along. Wigestrand forlag. Translations by Eirik Lodén.
2011
An Elastic State of Mind: D.L.D.‘s Autobiography in Poems. Wigestrand forlag. Translations by Eirik Lodén.
Mercy Island. Montreal: Phoenicia Publishing.
2009
An Intimate Retribution/En intim gjengjeldelse. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag. Translations by Eirik Lodén.
2004
Mixed States/Rødørret terrapin. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag. Translations by Eirik Lodén.
1999
FairyTales and Soil/Eventyr og jord. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag. Translations by Tor Obrestad

CHAPBOOKS

2005
Saga. Barcelona: Signum edizionid’arte.
2004
Literature Live: Ren Powell. Zagreb: Croatian Writers’ Union.

PERFORMANCE WORKS

2023
Ripeness is All. An adaptation (embellished erasure) of King Lear. Commissioned for the Red Curtain Arts Foundation. Performances October, 2023.

2018               
Her in Passing, Devising project with Scenic Route Theatre, London.
2012               
4-Cornered Object. Arild Møland, composer; Ragnhild Thoring, director. (Not produced).
2002               
Dark. Like Snow. Performed by Thad Rutowski. New York City Museum, New York.
2001             
Nå er eg heime att. Dir. Ragnhild Thoring. Kapittel 01, Stavanger.       
Waltzing In Present Tense. Talos Press. Radio Play/CD.
2000
Melancholia. By Jon Fosse. (Translation). Rogaland Theater, Stavanger.            
Walk About,Talk About. Ragnhild Thoring, director. “Ti kunstnere i ti dager”, Stavanger.
1998               
Erkjenneslens Øyblikk. Rogaland Theater (Workshop), Stavanger.             
Living Off the Bones. Dir. Hard Hat Theater Co. Barnes and Nobel’s Voices from the Cutting Edge series, Los Angeles.              
Living Off the Bones. Dir. 3rd Coast Theatre. 13 Playwrights: scenes and monologues giving voice to women’s experience in the 90s, BC, Canada.

TRANSLATIONS (BOOKS)

2009
Klyve Odveig. Second Sight. Cappelen Damm (CD).
2004
Reilstad, Jan Inge Ed. Broken Column. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag.
2003
Olden, Margrete. The Angels Speak. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag.
2001
Thoring, Eirik. Out and About Stavanger’s Green Belts. Stavanger: Stavanger Tourist Assoc.
2000
Roalkvam, Gunnar. DucksAboutTown. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag.
1999
– Falkeid, Kolbein . The Haugaland. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag.
– Solheim, Anne Lofthus. There Will Come a Time. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag
– Taraldsen, Kristen. An Adventure in Industry. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag
1998
Hauge, Kolbjørn. Rylke–Home of Grey Stone and Longing. Stavanger: Wigestrand
1997
Obrestad, Tor. Jæren–Fire and Sky. Stavanger: Rogaland Publications.Solheim, Anne Lofthus. There Will Come a Time. Stavanger: Wigestrand forlag, 1999

ANTHOLOGIES/COLLABORATIVE WORK

2022
– Sardžoska, Nataša. Borders. Borders in Globalization. Victoria.
– Installation/Conceptual Art project by Italio Lanferdini: Poeta
2008
– Berlin, Richard M. Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment, and the Creative Process. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP
– Richards, Moira, Rosemary Starace, and Lesley Wheeler. Letters to the World: Poems from the Wom-Po Listserv. Los Angeles: Red Hen.
2004
Jensen,Tore, and De Burgis, Saverio. Simi. Views from an Island. Stavanger, Ryfylke: Norsk Filmtrykk.

SELECTED JOURNALS

Weave, Verse Daily, Salt River Review, The Yalobash Review, Canopic Jar, Ouroboros, Fiera Lingua, Pemmican, Black Robert Journal, BorderSenses, Segue, PEN International

PAPERS, READINGS; PANELS & PRESENTATIONS

2019
Struga Poetry Festival. Ohrid, North Macedonia. (Guest Poet)
2010
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI (Guest Poet)
2009
Goldsmith University, UK (“Mindful of Otherness: Literature and Ethics”)
2007
Italian PEN symposium, Milan, Italy (“Speaking of Terrorism”)
2005
– “Skolesekken” playwright-in-the-schools project, Rogaland, Norway
– Les Mots Qui Brulent, Belgium (“A Prescribed Fire”)
– Women Writers’ Conference, Kyrgyzstan
2004
Literature Live, Zagreb, Croatia (Guest Poet)
– Stavanger University, Norway (“What is Poetry?”)
2000
Haugesund Museum, Norway (“Code-Switching in Literature”)
1999
– Southwest Journalist’s Guild, Norway
– Translation Panel Participant; University of East Anglia, UK

AWARDS AND DIVERSE HONORS

  • Artists Residency in Berlin. Stavanger Kommune, 2014
  • Statens Kunstnerstipend: Estableringsstipend
    (Norway’s Emerging Writer’s Grant)
  • Tekstforfatterfund (Grant for Lyricists)
  • Poetry Scholarship, Wesleyan Seminars
  • Grand Prize in Poetry in Verse Competition, Talos Press
  • Stage & Screen
  • Finalist in St. Petersburg Poetry Competition
  • Honorary Advisor for Kritya, an online Hindi/English literary journal
  • Poetry collections purchased by the Norwegian Arts Council

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Member of the Norwegian Writers’ Union (DnF)
Member of DTP (Norwegian Guild for Drama and Theatre Instructors)
Member of Norsk lektorlag
Associate Editor for Poemeleon
Reader for Orange Blossom Review

Ren was the human rights representative for the Women Writers’ Committee of International Pen from 2006-2008.


The et cetera