Karen Pava Randall is a book artist dedicated to publishing contemporary, innovative poetry. She founded Propolis Press in 2001 with the philosophy that there should be no one-size-fits-all approach to poetic texts. She works in a variety of media ranging from the traditional (letterpress printing and gum bichromate photography) to the very modern (embedded QR codes and interactive electronic circuitry). She was born in Iowa City, Iowa, grew up playing with electronics and primitive computers, painting with water color and oils, and always had a deep love for poetry.
She obtained her BA in Russian Literature from Smith College and an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago. After grad school she worked for the Chicago Academy of Sciences, designing science curricula and doing outreach in the public schools. Currently, she lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with a reference librarian and two tuxedo cats (who frequently enjoy interrupting the creative process).