
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 Byrne
Poet-in-Residence
Former 12 year Regional Director of the Poetry Society
of America, Elena Karina Byrne is a visual artist, teacher,
editor, Poetry Consultant/Moderator for The Los Angeles
Times Festival of Books, and Literary Programs Director
for the Ruskin Art Club. She organizes readings for several
other venues including, The West Hollywood Book Fair and
Museum Of Contemporary Art. She also works with Red Car
studios on several documentary projects, including Why
Shakespeare, Muse of Fire and The Big Read. Elena was
the 2005 Poetry Co-Editor for The Los Angeles Review and
one of three judges for the 2006 PEN USA Literary Award
in Poetry. A ten-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2008 Pushcart
Prize winner, Elena's recent work may be found in The
Best American Poetry, 2005, The Yale Review, Paris Review,
American Poetry Review, Poetry, Volt, Denver Quarterly,
Colorado Review, Ploughshares, Verse, TriQuarterly, Barrow
Street, Volt, Antioch Review, Poetry Daily Anthology,
Bear Flag Republic Anthology, and the Anthology of Magazine
Verse & Yearbook of American Poetry Elena's books
include The Flammable Bird ( Zoo Press/Tupelo Press, 2004),MASQUE
(Tupelo Press, 2008) and forthcoming : This Fable Language
(poetry, Tupelo Press, 2011) , Voyeur Hour (art/poetry),
and a collection of essays entitled,Beautiful Insignificance
(essays, Tupelo Press, 2011).

Andrew Leeson
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.
In the Fall of 2008, Andrew will be leading an examination
of genre in selected English and American novels and stories.

Ruth McKee
Playwright-in-Residence
Ruth McKee (BFA, Dramatic Writing, Tisch School of the
Arts, NYU; M.F.A. Theatre: Playwriting, UC-San Diego).
Her plays include: Stray, winner of the 2008 Stanley Drama
Award; The Nightshade Family, a finalist for the Kendeda
Graduate Playwriting Competition, produced in the 2007
Summer Play Festival on Theatre Row in New York; 500 Words,
soon to be published by Playscripts, Inc; The Noise Room,
developed at HB Playwrights Foundation, NY. Ruth also
teaches playwriting to undergraduates at UC San Diego,
and for the California State Summer School for the Arts
at CalArts.