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] GJS II (2016),[4] Days Running (2025),[5] 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),[6] 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.

[7] He is also an established beauty, fashion and lifestyle copywriter, having worked for such iconic brands as Chanel, Estee Lauder and Bergdorf Goodman.