Ruth Thompson

RUTH THOMPSON is an award-winning poet and channel. She has published six books, including Journey Bread (2024), Quickwater Oracles (2021), and Whale Fall & Black Sage (2028). Frank X Gaspar called Journey Bread "a woman’s Hijra from anger and despair, through myth and memory, magic, outcry, love, and into joy, into wholeness.... a wonderful book by a powerful and accomplished writer.” Quickwater Oracles, a collection of channeled conversations and meditations, won Hoffer, Montaigne, and First Generation book awards and was First Runner-Up for the Hoffer Grand Prize.Ruth began writing poetry in her fifties, after freeing herself from an abusive marriage, about which she wrote in Woman With Crows. Her poems have won many awards and have been widely praised for their joyous wit, intelligence, and profound connection with the natural world.Whale Fall was performed by dancers Karen Masaki, Jenn Eng, and Colee Garr in Hilo in 2018. Here Along Cazenovia Creek was performed by revered dancer Shizuno Nasu of Japan in 2012. A native Californian, Ruth has a BA from Stanford University and a doctorate in English from Indiana University. She now lives in Ithaca NY with her husband, anthropologist-writer Don Mitchell, and is the publisher of Saddle Road Press. A video about her work is at www.ruththompson.net. Poems, videos of performances, and further information can be found here.