Armand Ruffo

Research interests: Creative Writing; Indigenous Literature and Cultural Studies; Canadian Literature

Education

M. A. in literature and creative writing, University of Windsor
B. A.H. in English, University of Ottawa

About

Armand Garnet Ruffo was born in Chapleau in remote northern Ontario and is a member of the Chapleau Fox Lake Cree First Nation with familial roots to the Sagamok Ojibwe First Nation.  A Professor in the Department of English and cross-appointed with the Department of Languages, Literatures and Culture, he is recognized as a major contributor to both contemporary Indigenous literature and Indigenous literary scholarship in Canada. Professor Ruffo’s scholarly and creative practice intersect to shed light on a wide range of contemporary topics, including Indigenous culture, aesthetics, representation, incarceration, and sovereignty.

A highly regarded author, Professor Ruffo has spoken and read from his work both nationally and internationally. His publications include Opening In The Sky, Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney, The Thunderbird Poems and Treaty #, a finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award. His creative biography of the renowned Anishinaabe-Ojibwe painter Norval Morrisseau (Man Changing Into Thunderbird) was received with acclaim and was also a finalist for a Governor General’s Award.  Other work includes writing the libretto for the musical Sounding Thunder: the Song of Francis Pegahmagabow; the script for On The Day The World Begins Again – a short film about Indigenous incarceration; and coediting An Anthology of Indigenous Literatures in English for OUP.

In 2020, Professor Ruffo was awarded the Latner Canada Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize, given for a body of work. Other awards include The Mayor’s Arts “Creator” Award from the City of Kingston, The Archibald Lampman (Poetry) Award, and Best Film Award at the 35th annual American Indian Film Festival in the USA.  Professor Ruffo spends as much time as he can in northern Ontario where family members reside on the Fox Lake Reserve and where his son attends an “Indigenous cultural camp.”