Renée Sigel was born in South Africa of Afrikaans and Swiss parentage, in 1960. First published at fourteen, she was later acknowledged while still an undergraduate by the English Academy of South Africa which featured her poetry in the academic review. She went on to make a name for herself as a bi-monthly fine art columnist at a major daily South African newspaper and as arts and theatre editor on a lifestyle magazine.

She briefly opened a Renée Sigel Fine Art, an art agency, before intense political pressure forced relocation to Switzerland in 1993. During her nine year sojourn there, she collaborated as a translator on several award winning film documentaries and with the Zurich Opera House. A qualified English Foreign Language teacher, she has authored two English Language Course books for German and Italian Beginners. As a producer and director of children’s Theatre, an early dramatisation of Max and Moritz was translated and performed in Zulu in the mid-eighties and her children’s piece Tomas and the Rainbow Dragon is available in Swiss dialect on CD and cassette produced and released by Tudor Musik in 1999; performed by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under the baton of English-born conductor, Howard Griffiths, who commissioned the piece.

She has written two novels. The Abortionist’s Daughter is due for release by substance books  during 2005. sexions: selections from life and love is due out by the summer of 2005  Jacobyte/BeWrite Books and is her début poetry collection. Her poetry has been published in South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

She is the founder and publisher of the online website Literati Magazine which both offers editorial support to authors and poets and is dedicated to showcasing artistic excellence.

Renée Sigel now lives with her husband and three daughters in northern Italy.