Kimberly Ruffin

Kimberly Ruffin (she/her) is a grandchild o the Great Migration and a proud descendant of Earth-loving people. In response to the often singularly Eurocentric narrative of “nature writing” in the United States, she sought to better understand the African-American creative conceptions of human and more-than-human nature. Her book Black on Earth: African-American Ecoliterary Traditions allowed her to share perspectives of the rich connections Black authors have made to the multicultural tradition of U.S. nature writing. Kim is an Associate Professor of English at Roosevelt University, ounder o Cardinal Encounters, and a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide working in the Chicagoland area. The students in her classrooms and the participants in her walks and talks buoy her realistic yet positive outlook toward our environmental future. She is honored to be a part of the ongoing and urgent project of reshaping human animality. She is working to bring her perspective as a teacher and guide to a creative writing project that promotes nature connection through creative expression. Dancing, bicycling, and birding are her jams.