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, two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and honorable mention in the Hippocampus Magazine 2025 “We Love Short Shorts Contest for Flash Creative Nonfiction.” 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, Kathryn 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.

Kathryn 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

Winner, Writing x Writers Short Short Contest 2025 and 2021

Honorable Mention, Hippocampus Magazine We Love Short Shorts Contest for Flash Creative Nonfiction, 2025

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

Multi-time winner, Creative Nonfiction magazine's Tiny Truths contest

Teaching

Teaching Artist, The Loft Literary Center

Readings & Events

Writing x Writers Get the Lead Out Workshop | January 16, 2026

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