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RKR
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Raymond K. Rugg / RK Rugg

Raymond K. Rugg : Academia, Nonfiction
RK Rugg : Poetry, Fiction


Raymond K. Rugg / RK Rugg (he/him) writes and draws. 

A non-Native native of the American West, Rugg grew up  on the Flathead Reservation of Northwest Montana. A third-generation wilderness guide, he spent much of his youth working in the family outfitting business--wrangling horses, guiding pack trips into the backcountry areas of Montana and Idaho and later on, guiding whitewater raft trips and floats.

After earning a degree in Political Science from Iowa's Grinnell College and achieving the rank of Sergeant in the Army Reserve/National Guard, he spent the next 20 years as a journalist in the Reno/Tahoe and Great Basin region of Nevada. 

Relocating to New England in 2017, he earned a master's degree in Education (M. Ed. Elementary Education) and now teaches middle-school writing and history in a Massachusetts mill town. He is currently a grad student at Bridgewater State University, working toward a second master's degree in Reading (M. Ed. Reading).
​
Memberships:
  • Science Fiction Poetry Association
  • Speculative Literature Foundation
  • Popular Culture Association
  • Northeast Popular Culture Association
  • Southwest Popular/American Culture Association

Some past projects of note include:
  • Presenting at the National Popular Culture Association 2021 Annual Conference on "A Sense of Place: Portrayals of the Reservation in Contemporary Native American Speculative Fiction"

  • Presenting at the NE Popular Culture conference 2019, “Putting the ‘I’ in Sci-Fi: Examining the Use of First-Person Narrative in Speculative Fiction Novels, 1953-2019”

  • Developing and editing the anthology, Life on the Rez: Science Fiction and Fantasy Inspired by Life on America’s Indian Reservations, Published by Tree-Lion Press.

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What's RKR up to?


​ Present: 2023

Review of Mother Android, directed by Mattson Tomlin for the magazine Foundation, The International Review of Science Fiction , #145. I'm always pleased to get a piece in Foundation, because it is such a hardcore academic journal. :)

I'm delighted to announce that I am now serving as a First Reader for Flash Point SF (speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length). (First rule of submissions: Follow the submission guidelines!!!)

On June 28 in honor of the Online Release Party for Eccentric Orbits, Vol. 4, I read my SpecPo "Other Lights Than Yours," one of four of my poems included in the book. (Click over to the Poetry page for a video of my reading for the Launch Party!)


​I'm incredibly honored to announce that my poem for Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (I Recalled Old Earth Last Night in a Dream) was selected as a finalist in the 2022 Reader Awards. You can read it by clicking directly to the poem, and you can see all the finalists for all categories by clicking to the full list. Thanks to everyone who voted! And check out my poem presentation and some photos of the event by visiting my
​Asimov's Event page!


SpecPo in Eccentric Orbits, An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry: Volume 4 from Dimensionfold Publishing.   I'm very proud to have a number of poems selected for inclusion in the 4th volume of this annual anthology of speculative poetry, edited by Wendy Van Camp, the poet laureate for the city of Anaheim. I have four pieces included in this year's collection, including;
  • "Repudiating the 'Great Man' Theory of History: A List in No Particular Order
  • "Other Lights Than Yours"
  • "Fingernails on Hardwood"
  • "Helmet Failure"

Coming Soon! 
  • New SpecPo in Illumen Magazine of Speculative Poetry, scheduled for October 2023. (This will be my second piece in Illumen...my first poem published here went on to be a Dwarf Star Award nominee!)

SpecPo in the Timber Ghost Press blog, July 15, 2023. Timber Ghost is a Western Horror publisher and this poem, "Selway Bitterroot," is based on my time outfitting and guiding in the wilderness area waaaay back in the Idaho Panhandle.

SpecPo in a Utopia Science Fiction (April/May 2023). This publication holds a special place in my heart as they were my first paid market, and this is my third poem to find a home here. 'The Ancients We Are Told Made Great: Erasure poem from Isaac Newton's 'Preface to the Principia,' May 8 1686" is, I think, a good fit with the publication's mission to print optimistic SF. https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/

SpecPo in a mainstream literary publication (which is always a fun accomplishment!), my short piece "Birdwatching During the Pandemic" appears in Tiny Wren Lit (Issue #4, Unthemed) which went live online in late April 2023 and is free to read at https://www.tinywrenlit.com/issue-4

SpecPo "On Sending a Mission to Explore the Outer System" appears in the Quests issue of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's publication, Eye to the Telescope.

SpecNonFic: I returned to the Midwest in March 2023 (at least virtually) for the Midwest Popular Culture Association's 2nd annual Virtual Graduate Student Mini Conference, where I'll be presented during Saturday's TIPS panel...Teaching Ideas for Popular Culture Studies, revisiting my paper on "Teaching The Hobbit at the Middle-School Level in a Post-Jacksonian World."

2022

​
SpecPo in SFPA's Eye to the Telescope
On Sending a Mission to Explore the Outer System appears in the Quests issue of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's publication, Eye to the Telescope.

SpecFic: Finally getting back to some prose on the website of Wyngraf: The Magazine of  Cozy Fantasy.  My flash piece "Glorin the Dwarf"  was published by this absolutely charming and unique site in October.

SpecPo in SFPA's Eye to the Telescope
Duty appears in the Veterans of Future Wars issue of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's publication, Eye to the Telescope.

SpecNonFic: Presentation at the Northeast Popular Culture Association, "Teaching The Hobbit at the Middle-School Level" presented at the NEPCA 2022 Conference as a part of the Tolkien track for this year's gathering. 

​Dwarf Stars Nomination!
SpecPo: My poem Ten Squared originally published in the Summer 2021 issue of Illumen, was nominated for the SFPA's Dwarf Star award for poetry of 10 lines or fewer and appeared in the print anthology. 

SpecPo in Asimov's Magazine of Science Fiction, May/June 2022 Vol. 46 Nos. 5 & 6.
I couldn't be more pleased to have I Recalled Old Earth Last Night in a Dream appear in one of my favorite SF magazines. (Editorial notes for this one included the line, "I can't resist the charm of this pantoum," and you'd better believe that I'm on Cloud Nine about that.)

SpecPo in Eccentric Orbits, An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry: Volume 3 from Dimensionfold Publishing.  I'm delighted to have work included in this next volume of speculative poetry, edited by Wendy Van Camp. I have four pieces in Volume 3, including :
  • I recently read a superhero story set in outer space
  • Vegetative Unrest in Southern Mexico: A Villanelle
  • Thoughts on Leaving My Werewolf Lover
  • Musing Upon Cryogenic Propellants, A Villanelle


2021

SpecNonFic: Review of Lost in Transmission: The Secret History of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Desirina Boskovich in SFRA Review Vol. 51, No. 3 (Summer 2021), an open access journal published four times a year by the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

SpecPo: The official launch of New Tales of the Round Table includes my Camelot- A Villanelle 

SpecPo in the current issue of Illumen Magazine , a quarterly digest of SF&F poetry... Ten Squared is a poem crafted from ten lines of ten syllables each.

SpecNonFic: Review of 
Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O'Brien, on NetGalley

SpecNonFic: Presentation at the Popular Culture Association 2021 National Conference: "A Sense of Place: Portrayals of the Reservation in Contemporary Native American Speculative Fiction"

SpecPo: The April/May 2021 issue of  Utopia Science Fiction Magazine includes my SpecPo, Prodigal

SpecPo: -Eccentric Orbits: An Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry, Volume 2 contains my poem, In An Ivory Tower. It is a form known as a Prime 53 Poem and I'm delighted that it found a home in this beautiful book from Dimensionfold Publishing.

SpecNonFic: Presentation at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association annual conference on "A Sense of Place: Portrayals of the Reservation in Native American Speculative Fiction"

SpecPo: The Beasts Are Gods (SpecPo text and audio) in January 2021 issue of Abyss & Apex magazine


2020

SpecPo: Northern Rockies (SpecPo graphic) in November 2020 issue of Snakeskin poetry webzine.

SpecPo: Tapestry (SpecPo) in October/November 2020 issue of Utopia Science Fiction magazine.

Served as a juror for the  2020 Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds Grants program sponsored by the Speculative Literature Foundation.

SpecNonFic-October  30, 2020: Presentation at the 5th annual Vampire Academic Conference on "Blood Brothers: Comic-book Influences on Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot"

SpecNonFic: October  24, 2020: Presentation at the New England Popular Culture Association annual conference on "Kid Stuff: The Younging Down of Adult SF Literature"

SpecPo: They Say at this Time of Year (SpecPo audio) at Science Fiction Poetry Association 2020 Halloween Poetry Reading

​
SpecNonFic: Review of Figures Unseen by Steve Rasnic Tem. This review was commissioned by one of the speculative fiction academic publications, but it didn't ever run, and I was delighted to be able to place it with my friend Jennie Ivins at FantasyFaction.


2019

SpecNonFic: Presentaton of
 Putting the "I" in "SciFi": First-Person POV in SF Novels, 1953-2019 at the Northeast Popular Culture Association Annual Conference, 2019

SpecNonFic: Review of Becoming Superman by J. Michael Straczynski for the magazine Foundation, The International Review of Science Fiction


2016

SpecFic: Editor, Life on the Rez: Science Fiction and Fantasy Inspired by Life on America's Indian Reservations (includes my short story "Member of the Tribe")


2015

SpecFic: Contributor, Stories from the World of Tomorrow: The Way the Future Was (includes my short story "A Deep Breath of Tomorrow")


2014

SpecFic: Contributor, Reunions: An Anthology of Heartfelt Short Stories (includes my short story "Christina and Theresa and Cassandra")


2013


​SpecNonFic: Book: Sales and Science Fiction. Handbook of sales advice and lessons gleaned from the genre of science fiction.

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