Kathryn Ganfield is a nature writer, essayist, and teaching artist in the river town of St. Paul, Minnesota. Her work focuses on family, environment, and the climate in crisis. She was a 2022-2023 Loft Literary Center Mentor Series Fellow in nonfiction, winner of the 2023 Paul Gruchow Essay Contest, a winner of the Writing By Writers 2021 Short Short Contest, multi-time winner of the Tiny Truths contest, and a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Her words have been published in Water~Stone Review, Creative Nonfiction, and River Teeth, among other journals.
As a communications professional and creative storyteller in the environmental field, Ganfield advocates for wildlife conservation and environmental education. In 2025, she was awarded a Ulysses S. Seal Conservation Grant to travel to Africa to write about Save the Rhino Trust Namibia’s efforts to bring the critically endangered black rhino back from the brink of extinction.
Ganfield volunteers as a Minnesota Master Naturalist, and has served as a grant reviewer and artistic evaluator for the Minnesota State Arts Board. She holds a BA in creative writing from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, where she edited The Metropolitan newspaper.
Distinctions
Loft Mentor Series Fellowship in Nonfiction, 2022-2023
Runner-up, Story Street Review Flash Fiction Contest, Spring 2025
Winner, Paul Gruchow Essay Contest, 2023
Nominee, Best Microfiction anthology series, 2024
Nominee, Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, 2021 and 2022
Winner, Writing x Writers Short Short Contest, 2021
Multi-time winner, Creative Nonfiction magazine's Tiny Truths contest
Teaching
Teaching Artist, The Loft Literary Center
Multigenre Workshop: “Go Rococo: Bring the Benefits of Maximalism to Your Work” | February 2025
Readings & Events
Midstream Reading Series | Unity Unitarian - St. Paul, Minnesota | November 13, 2025
Water~Stone Review Annual Reading | Hamline University - St. Paul, Minnesota | November 10, 2023
Loft Literary Center Mentor Series Reading | Minneapolis, Minnesota | April 14, 2023
Writing x Writers Boulder Generative Workshop | Boulder, Colorado | March 18, 2022
Photo credit: Jake Ganfield