Barbro Karlén

Barbro Karlén (born May 24, 1954) is a Swedish writer.

Karlén became a prolific writer from an early age. A book of her poetry, Människan på jorden (published in English as Man on Earth), published when she was 12 years old, led to her widespread recognition within Sweden as a child prodigy. She had published eleven books of poetry and prose by the time she was 16.

As a young child, Karlén had memories of being Anne Frank in a past life. In an autobiographical work, And the Wolves Howled, she related that while visiting Amsterdam as a child with her family, she was able to find her way to the Frank house and to identify details of the house's construction and furnishings that had been changed since Frank's time. A very close relative of Anne Frank, Buddy Elias, became a close friend with Barbro after meeting her in 1998. He made public appearances to promote Barbro’s autobiography in German.

Karlén worked as a mounted police woman in Sweden until 1993. She then trained horses and riders and competed internationally in dressage. She moved to California in 1999. She now lives in North Carolina and works as Education Manager at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.