Karen Babine

Karen Babine, Ph.D., is a writer, editor, and educator known as the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies. She is the author of Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of a Northern Life (2015). Her career bridges creative nonfiction, pedagogical innovation, and editorial leadership, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and accessibility in nonfiction scholarship.

Research and Editorial Mission

• Focuses on elevating creative nonfiction as a scholarly discipline
• Advocates for pedagogical approaches that integrate empathy and trauma-informed teaching
• Explores intersections of memoir, environmental writing, and identity politics
• Promotes analysis of underrepresented texts and authors in nonfiction

Key Themes in Work

Her editorial and critical efforts emphasize the need for academic scholarship on creative nonfiction, challenging its historical marginalization in traditional literary studies. She has mentored emerging scholars through Assay, which publishes twice-yearly issues addressing topics like AI's impact on essayism, emotional pacing in trauma narratives, and the role of digital tools in nonfiction pedagogy.