Jay Ruud Biography

Jay Ruud is the author of a new series of mystery novels revolving around the legend Robin Hood. He has also previously written a six-volume mystery series set in the court of King Arthur, featuring the venerable court spellbinder Merlin and his young assistant, the page Gildas, who investigate the crimes.

Following the success of the first novel in the Robin Hood series, Sleuth of Sherwood, the second novel, Ghoul of Sherwood was released in December 2022, and has since been named a finalist in the Eric Hoffer Award competition. Both novels can be ordered on either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. A third book in the Robin Hood series, Treasure of Sherwood, is due out later in 2023.

Jay Ruud has also authored four previous books of literary criticism and scholarship (one on Chaucer, one on Dante, one on Tolkien, and an encyclopedia of medieval literature), in addition to several dozen articles on topics like Arthurian literature, Tolkien, Chaucer, the mystic Julian of Norwich, and medieval drama.

Drama is one of Jay’s special interests, and as an avid amateur Thespian he has played various parts over the years in regional and community theater productions of Shakespeare (recently, e.g., Brabantio in Othello), musicals (most recently the Narrator and Mysterious Man in Into the Woods), and more modern “straight” plays. A few years ago he played Lady Bracknell in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest, where he had the interesting experience of playing his own daughter’s mother. Fortunately she is past the age when this could mess her up for life.

He does have two spectacular children, an awesome wife, four loving dogs, and four astounding grandchildren, including a set of twin boys.

In real life, he is recently retired from his position as Professor and Chair of the English department at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he taught for thirteen years, prior to which he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He has a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is a long-suffering and finally redeemed Chicago Cubs fan, and believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

If you’d like to see Jay Ruud’s CV, click HERE.