Dr. CJ Scruton is a trans and non-binary writer and teacher who grew up in the Lower Mississippi River Valley. They received their Ph.D. in literature and cultural theory from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Locally, they are a founding member and director of the Milwaukee Queer Writing Project and have served on the board of the Milwaukee Native American Literary Cooperative. Scruton’s work focuses on ghost stories, with an emphasis on broad definitions and narratives of “spirit.” They explore not only how ghost stories represent social norms and fears, but also how stories of spirits and afterlife spaces represent complex natural ecosystems. At MIAD, they have taught courses in horror theory, LGBTQ+ studies, Native studies, and FYE writing and humanities.
Scruton’s scholarly writing appears in New Directions in Ecohorror and the EcoGothic and the Nathaniel Hawthorne Review, where they will also guest edit the spring 2023 special issue on Hawthorne and the environment. Their poems have appeared in Shenandoah, The Journal, Juked
