Karen Isabel Ocaña

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Karen Isabel Ocaña is a poet, literary translator, and writer of fiction and non-fiction. She was born in Toronto and lives in Montreal. Karen was on the jury for the Grand Prix du livre de Montreal from 2018-2020. She translates from Spanish as well as from French into English. Her translations have been published recently in Arc Poetry, ellipse magazine, the Malahat Review and the Capilano Review. Karen's translation of Louise Dupre's poetry collection Rooms was a finalist for the 2017 QWF Cole Translation Prize.

Her translation into English of Gloria Macher's novel The Theft of Don Fernando's Arteries is forthcoming.

Karen's poetry has been published in Kola Magazine as well as JONAH magazine, and she has read widely from her work in Montreal's literary circles. Red Bolero is her first published book of poetry.

Synopsis of Red Bolero

It is a short collection of poetry, consisting of 21 poems organized into two sections.
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The collection consists mainly of free verse poems, but also includes rhyming couplets, tercets and quatrains, an ode, an elegy and one ekphrastic poem. The collection explores themes both personal and political, ranging from meditations on nature, climate change, home, and identity, to poems dedicated to first love, long-time friendship, an Andalusian abuelo and abuela, Covid, evolution and the summer solstice.