Dr. Armand Ruffo

Biography

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. Professor Ruffo is a recognized major contributor to contemporary Indigenous literature and Indigenous literary scholarship in Canada. His scholarly and creative practice sheds light on a wide range of contemporary topics, including Indigenous culture, aesthetics, representation, incarceration, and sovereignty. Highly regarded as an author, Professor Ruffo has spoken and read his work both nationally and internationally. His publications include 'Opening Sky,' 'Grey Owl: Mystery Archie Belaney,' and 'Thunderbird Poems Treaty #,' which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. His creative biography of renowned Anishinaabe-Ojibwe painter Norval Morrisseau (Man Changing Thunderbird) also received acclaim as a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. His work includes writing the libretto for the musical 'Sounding Thunder: Song of Francis Pegahmagabow,' the script for the short film 'Day the World Begins' which deals with Indigenous incarceration, and co-editing the 'Anthology of Indigenous Literatures in English' published by OUP. In 2020, he was awarded the Latner Canada Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize for his body of work, among other accolades such as the Mayor’s Arts “Creator” Award from the City of Kingston and the Archibald Lampman Award for Poetry. Professor Ruffo spends time in northern Ontario where his family members reside on the Fox Lake Reserve, and his son attends an Indigenous cultural camp.

Research Interests