Ren (Katherine) Powell is a writer, translator, poet - and native Californian living on the west coast of Norway.

Ren has been a member of The Norwegian Author's Union since 2005, and has published three full-length collections of poetry and eleven books of translations. Her poetry collections have been purchased by the Arts Council for national library distribution. Ren's poetry has been translated and published in six languages and her non-fiction essays have appeared in several printed anthologies and magazines.

Ren has a BA in Theater Arts and an MA in Creative Writing. She taught theater and drama at a performing arts school for nine years and her dramatic works have been performed in the U.S., Canada and Norway.

From 2005 to 2008 Ren served as the Norwegian PEN representative for the International PEN Women Writers’ Committee. She also helped establish the International Cities of Refuge Network and is the founding editor of the online literary journals Protest Poems.org and Babel Fruit: Writing Under the Influence.

Ren is currently a graduate advisor with Prescott College’s brief residency MA program and is pursuing a doctorate in Creative Writing at Lancaster University in England.