RUTH SERVEN SMITH

I am a writer and journalist based in Birmingham, Alabama. During the day, I work as a paralegal on federal civil rights cases, but I still love using the written word to help others understand complex topics and feel closer to their communnity. Before moving to Birmingham, I was an assistant city editor and a health and higher education reporter in Charlottesville, Virginia, where I won awards for editorial leadership, science, educational and legal writing, including for coverage of the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally.

I am a proud graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, class of 2017. I was previously a Pulliam Fellow and neighborhoods reporter for the Indy Star. During my undergraduate career at the University of Missouri, I covered the higher education beat at a city newspaper, The Columbia Missourian, which included daily and breaking news coverage of the graduate rights and anti-racist protests at the University of Missouri. Two of my stories during that fall were the Missourian's top ten most-read stories of the year. I also spent time on the Missourian's graphics and copy desks.

I'm a proud native of Oklahoma City. Some of my favorite writers are Lane DeGregory, Flannery O'Connor, Daniel Woodrell, David Halberstam and Laura Hillenbrand. You can often find me listening to folk music, reading a novel or tramping through a state park.