Kim Henderson
Chair, Creative Writing Department
Kim Henderson (M.F.A. University of Montana) taught Creative Writing and Composition at the University of Montana before coming to Idyllwild Arts. She previously taught middle school in Albuquerque and Bloomfield, New Mexico. Her stories have appeared in Conceptions Southwest, and she has work forthcoming in Night Train.

Elena Bryne
Poet-in-Residence

Andrew Leeson
Victorian Literature Instructor
Andrew Leeson (B.A. Hons, English, University of Sussex, England ) Born into a farming family in rural East Yorkshire, England. His B.A. thesis at Sussex 'The Depression in Rural England (1919-1939) - Images and Reality' drew upon his first hand interactions and interviews with country folk of the inter-war years, as well as a review of the depiction of rural life in contemporary fiction of the 1930s. In the Fall of 2007, Andrew will be leading an examination of English novels from Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy.

Ruth McKee
Playwright-in-Residence
Ruth McKee (BFA, Dramatic Writing, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU; M.F.A. Playwrighting, UC-San Diego). Her plays include: The Nightshade Family (Baldwin New Play Festival, University of California San Diego, 2006), 500 Words (BNPF, 2005), The Noise Room (HB Playwrights Foundation, NY); Development (Access Theater, NY, Chashama, NY, and a reading by First Stage LA); Long Term Parking (Turnip Theatre, NY, published by Playscripts, Inc.); and State of Emergency (French Cultural Center, Nairobi, Towngate Theatre, Wheeling WV, reading by Famous Door Theatre, Chicago). She also worked as a sound operator for the Wallace Shawn/Andre Gregory production of The Designated Mourner in 2000. In 2007, The Nightshade Family, was directed by Shelley Butler at Clurman Theater in New York City as part of the annual Summer Play Festival.