Welcome to Dramatic Roots! This literary newsletter, focused on poetry, essays, and new stage works, approaches nature as a metaphor to explore connections among histories, the earth, and us.
"The purpose of playing... is to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature."
Shakespeare
Poetry, Performance, and Nature are interconnected: when Shakespeare said the purpose of theater is to hold a mirror up to nature, he was also referring to the nature of our own complex humanity.
I explore the creative process of discovering metaphors in our connection to the natural world, generational trauma/healing, and our need to belong.
My hope is that what I write will resonate with your own life experience, sparking reflection and conversation.
Rather than focusing on large-scale community building—and staying true to my introverted nature amidst the zeitgeist of virtual “tribes”—I offer Dramatic Roots as a space for quieter, personal connections.
There are all kinds of conversations, and all kinds of belonging. So whether you're reading with the intention to bring your own stories and explore ideas through comment exchanges or chat, or you’re reading to use my words as a springboard for your own private contemplation or creative work, you're in the right place.
And I’m glad you’re here.
1. What I offer subscribers
A weekly process journal entry—ranging from lyric prose to research, often hybrid or exploratory writing
A weekly poem or script
Occasional Show Notes—interviews, photography shares, and/or art interpretations
Occasional writing exercises
2. What I don’t offer
Advice
Platitudes
Claims that my insights will be universally true
Scholarly treatises (I’m a lapsed academic)
Instead, I hope these newsletters inspire you to hold a mirror up to your own nature—from many perspectives.
3. Paid Subscribers
Access to the Chat
I’ve chosen not to place my work behind a paywall, but the Substack Chat is an exception. Chat functions as a group DM, providing a relatively small, spam-free, environment where readers and/or writers can comfortably share personal extrapolations of the work on Dramatic Roots, or post links to their own related work as a form of dialogue.
All financial support is welcome, as it allows me to dedicate more time to writing and expand my projects, which in turn can support actors, technicians, editors, and designers contributing to new productions and publications.
4. Special Benefits for Patrons
A PDF version of my 2021 chapbook Impermanence
My next poetry collection in fall 2025
Patrons’ names will be credited in future Mad Orphan Lit. projects, including the upcoming anthology
Whether you’ve been here from the start or are just signing on, your presence and support mean the world.
Warmly,
Ren
About Ren
Born in California, Ren has (somewhat) settled on the western coast of Norway. She has published six full-length poetry collections, over a dozen books of translations, and her playtexts have been performed in Canada, Norway, and the United States. Ren’s own work has been translated into eight languages.
Ren Powell currently writes, and teaches theater at Vågen Upper Secondary School for the Visual and Performing Arts. She holds a Ph.D. and an MA (with Distinction) in Creative Writing from Lancaster University (England), and a BA in Theater Arts from Texas A&M University (USA).
A member of the Norwegian Author’s Union, the Norwegian Guild for Drama & Theatre Instructors, and the Dramatists Guild (US), Ren also served as the International PEN Women Writers’ Committee representative for Human Rights from 2006 to 2008.
She is the currently the Poetry Editor for Orange Blossom Review, and an associate editor and feature writer for Poemeleon. Alongside her teaching at Vågen, she mentors writers of all ages—in English and Norwegian—offering guidance and inspiration.
You can find her CV and more information about her books and plays on her website.
