| Birth Date: | 19 July 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Novelist, editor |
| Period: | 1990s-present |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | University of Cincinnati |
| Notableworks: | Finlater |
| Awards: | Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction, 2008 |
Shawn Stewart Ruff (born July 19, 1959) is an American novelist and editor,[1] who won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Debut Fiction at the 21st Lambda Literary Awards in 2008 for his debut novel Finlater.[2] He has since published the novels Toss and Whirl and Pass (2010)[3] and GJS II (2016),[4] and the novella One/10th (2013).
He was previously editor of the anthology Go the Way Your Blood Beats: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Fiction by African-American Writers (1996),[5] which was a shortlisted nominee for the Lambda Literary Award for Fiction Anthologies at the 9th Lambda Literary Awards in 1997.
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he studied English literature at the University of Cincinnati. He is currently based in New York City.[6]
He is also an established beauty, fashion and lifestyle copywriter, having worked for such iconic brands as Chanel, Estee Lauder and Bergdorf Goodman.